Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) and the author of several mindfulness books. In this interview, we talk about the importance of forgiveness in our lives and why carrying our anger or resentment around with us is like carrying hot coal. Dropping the hot coal can lead us to more freedom, openness, and joy. It doesn’t mean we have to condone or forget, but it is truly an act of self-compassion. It’s simply good for us and the practices she teaches can be really powerful. The first step, she says, is to have the willingness to even start working on forgiveness — whether it’s forgiving another person for hurting you, asking another person to forgive you, or, also extremely important, forgiving yourself. None of this is easy…but it can make a big difference in our own health and ease. Letting go of these difficult feelings is a great way to begin a new year filled with more open, positive, and productive energy.