Embracing New Beginnings: The Art of Starting Over

(tapping, clicking) (light music) "Headspace Studios." (soft music) Hi, and welcome to "Radio Headspace" and to Tuesday. It's Eve here. So I was teaching a mindfulness class the other day, and one of the participants asked me, "Well, what if I miss a few days of my meditation practice?" And I simply said, "You just start again." The beauty of mindfulness is that it invites you to start again and again and again. The thought of starting over can often be really daunting, and this feeling of where to start can be quite dominant. It could be after a job change or redundancy, a relationship ending or a major life transition. It's also about facing the emotional weight that comes with it, whether that's a feeling of frustration for not being where you thought you'd be, the fear of failing or grieving what was, but starting again, no matter how big or small, is not a failure. It's a part of life, and if we can embrace it with curiosity, even a sense of wonder, it makes the transition into what's next that much more enjoyable. I remember when I quit my job in advertising. This was before I joined Headspace, but I'd been miserable for months, and I was completely burnt out. Even though I had made the decision to leave advertising, I was flooded with thoughts. "What now? Did I just waste years of my life? What if I don't figure out what to do next?" Thankfully, at the same time, I had also begun meditating, and it provided a space for me to see that I didn't need to figure everything out all at once. One of the most valuable lessons in mindfulness is this idea of impermanence, this understanding that nothing stays the same forever. Our breath comes and goes. Seasons change, jobs start and end, and people enter and leave our lives. I know that can feel unsettling, perhaps even sad, but it's also a reminder that we're never stuck. Everything is changing all of the time. If you've meditated before, you've probably noticed that the mind drifts and gets distracted. One moment you're focused on the breath, and the next, you're thinking about dinner plans or a conversation from last week. But instead of judging ourselves for getting distracted, meditation teaches us to simply begin again. This practice of coming back over and over is a perfect metaphor for life. A dear friend of mine recently went through a really tough breakup. They'd been with their partner for years, and when it ended, they felt like their entire sense of identity had been shattered. I remember her saying, "I don't even know who I am anymore." I said, "You're still you, but now you get to reintroduce yourself to you again." I think we can probably all relate. It may not have been a breakup, but many things in life end, and we have to keep moving forward. But it's not about rushing to feel okay...