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Sex and relationships
LifestyleFamily & Relationships
Luisa Tam
Luisa Tam

The Naked Truth | How to let go of bad feelings that might end a relationship and make a fresh start for a new year

  • If we hold on to our views about what’s past, our emotions can get ‘stuck’ and cause communication breakdowns, the end of relationships, even physical pain
  • Decluttering your emotions the way Marie Kondo does physical spaces can help you identify issues and let bad feelings go

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Luisa Tam

Many of us tend to use the time at the end of a year to put our accomplishments and failures into focus and reflect on them.

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Re-evaluating major aspects of our lives, such as our relationships, can be bittersweet – the next thing we know, we’re reflecting on the factors that are holding us back or that are not contributing to our personal growth.

This is when difficult decisions need to be made, so that we can enter the new year absolved of any pain from the past 12 months.

We can look at this “cleansing” ritual like a Marie Kondo exercise. But rather than decluttering our physical living space like the Japanese organising consultant encourages us to do, we do away with unwanted negative emotions. Doing this can benefit our connection with our partner, too.
Re-evaluating the major aspects of our lives, such as our relationships, can be bittersweet. Photo: Getty Images
Re-evaluating the major aspects of our lives, such as our relationships, can be bittersweet. Photo: Getty Images

Sonia Samtani – a clinical hypnotherapist, life coach, and relationship and wellness coach – explains what emotional clutter is and how it can negatively impact the life we share with our partner.

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