Already Gave Up On Your Resolutions? Here’s How To Deal

We all started the month with such good intentions. But chances are, those resolutions aren't going to last much longer. In fact, according to a poll from The Guardian, over 60% percent of people who make resolutions have given them up by the beginning of February. But that doesn't make your original intentions any less good — and it doesn't mean you have to give up. The first step in moving forward is forgiving yourself, says Agapi Stassinopoulos, author of the recently released Wake Up To The Joy Of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Happier, Calmer Life. "When we feel that something hasn’t worked out, we can collapse on ourselves," she says. "We shut down and judge ourselves as a failure, but I would absolutely highly recommend you don’t judge yourself and [instead] move into acceptance."

To help you get in touch with your goals — and forgive yourself should they not work out, we've included a guided meditation excerpted from Agapi's new book. Check it out, and watch a video of Stassinopoulos discussing the book and leading another meditation, below:

Finding Grace In Disappointment

Find a comfortable position and allow yourself to relax. Shake your shoulders and release any tensions, anything you might be holding in your body, and take a deep breath and exhale with a sound, "Ahh." Be present in your body and in your heart. Bring into your awareness anything that might have caused you disappointment in your life; it could be recent, it could be in the past. Become aware of unmet expectations, what kinds of emotional discomfort they caused you, and what decisions you made about your­ self when something didn't work out. Is there something you have told yourself you were going to commit to, but didn't? Or maybe something someone promised to you. So often in life, many things we want don't work out the way we would like them to. People don't meet our expectations. Even with ourselves, we often don't meet our own expectations. This is all part of the human condition. The added suffering is that we judge all of that. That judgment restricts our energy, our loving, and our ability to move forward. So right now ask for the white light to fill you, surround you, and protect you, and imagine this beautiful, warm light embracing your body, emotions, and mind. Take this situation that has caused you disappointment and ask your wisdom and your highest self to show you the lesson that might be stored in this experience. What did this experience teach you about yourself? About others?About life? What is the lesson learned?

If you made a decision about yourself or your life that does not support you in moving forward, can you allow yourself to forgive any judgments you may have made against yourself, or against another person? It could be "I forgive myself for judging myself for trusting too much," "I forgive someone else for not listening," "I forgive someone else for not taking enough time to review everything," or "I forgive myself for wanting things to turn out differently." In this forgiveness, experience a new sense of letting go. In this letting go, there is relaxation, a new surge of energy that's coming to you, a new enthusiasm, revitalizing you and renewing you to move forward from this experience. Knowing that you've become wiser and richer in your experience of this situation. Knowing that life is for you. Everything that happens is for your growth, your learning, and for you to know that you can access deeper, wiser parts of yourself. In this deep acceptance right now, you start to experience a sense that you're not alone and you're anchored in your strength, in your clarity, and in your wisdom to move forward. Tuning into yourself, receive the guidance of what it is that you need to do next, what action you need to take. With new enthusiasm, you see yourself opening new doors that lead you to new vistas, being so supported by yourself, by others, and by your own spirit, you fill yourself with gratitude, you bless the past and release it. You now experience a newfound freedom, and how wonderful it is to let go of any burdens or disappointments. You return to your heart, your center, and your wholeness. When you're ready, you stretch your neck, shake your shoulders, wriggle your fingers and toes, take a deep breath, open your arms. Give yourself a big hug for your willingness to let go and be free; smile inside and out, radiating joy. When you're ready, open your eyes, have a sip of water to ground yourself, and you're ready to move on with your life.

Excerpted from Wake Up To The Joy Of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life Copyright © 2016 by Agapi Stassinopoulos. Published by Harmony Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC