A 2024 Year Review to Erase Regrets, Guilt, and Shame and Prepare for a Fresh, Abundant 2025
Self-Coaching Somatic Journaling Process
by Sylvia Becker-Hill
Dear Reader,
Every “New Year’s Celebration” sparks hope and a sense of possibility. Imagine 2025 as an empty canvas, with you as the artist of your dream life—holding a magic brush, ready to paint your vision!
Yet, let’s be honest: too often, people set new resolutions, only to abandon them by February, leaving them stuck in familiar patterns.
Why does this happen?
Our subconscious mind, designed to protect us from pain and danger, is far more powerful than conscious willpower. Fears, uncomfortable emotions, and limiting beliefs sabotage our best intentions.
Ready to disrupt this cycle? Say out loud: “Yes, I am!” You’ll need five blank sheets of paper and a pen. Now, follow these self-coaching steps. This process will take 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.
Step 1:
Write each of the following five categories at the center of a separate page, then circle them: (Fear Triggers), (Mistakes/Regrets), (Guilt/Shame), (Beliefs), (Clean-Up).
Step 2:
Set a timer for 3 minutes per page, and write quickly and freely about each category from the past 12 months. These questions will help you:
What situations triggered fear in you?
What mistakes or regrets linger from things you did or didn’t do?
What events triggered feelings of guilt or shame?
What confidence-weakening beliefs still linger as lessons or coping mechanisms?
What do you need to forgive (yourself or others), clean up, or complete to move on?
Write everything around the centered category without worrying about neatness or spelling. Continue beyond 3 minutes if needed,
but don’t stop early.
Step 3:
This is the essential somatic step! Slowly read through each item you’ve written, focusing on how each one feels within your body. Notice where each feeling sits—is it tense or heavy? Hot or cold? Does it shift as you focus on it? Go through each paper, exploring each item somatically.
Release past-year energies for each category as follows:
Fears: Name each fear specifically (e.g., “fear of losing my job”). Feel through each one until it dissipates. Often, as with an onion, deeper layers appear beneath—work through each with self-compassion.
Mistakes/Regrets: While sensing each one in your body, ask, “What is your message for me?” Listen deeply, write down the answer, and release the energy.
Guilt/Shame: For each spot of guilt, extend self-forgiveness and let it go. For shame, hug yourself and remind yourself, “You are enough. You are loved. You belong.”
Confidence-Weakening Beliefs: Focus on each belief’s energy in your body and ask yourself if it’s true. Feel—not think—your answer. Most beliefs will dissolve. For persistent ones, imagine the opposite belief and test its truth. Experiment with at least five versions of the belief until all energy releases. See these beliefs as your own creations.
Clean-Up: Sense where this situation connects in your body and identify any needed practical action or forgiveness to declare it complete. Then, let it fully go.
After the Somatic Review:
How do you feel? Do you sense release or perhaps some exhaustion? Take a break and, if possible, walk in nature to integrate the process. You’ve done profound consciousness work—more than most do in a lifetime! Breathe deeply, feel the life force in you, and relish the sense of a fresh, magical canvas ahead.
In the Hanna Magazine (issue January 2025), we’ll dive into Part 2 of the Empty Canvas Magic Process, where you’ll discover the #1 key to creating extraordinary results without hustle.
Happy New Year!
Sylvia
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