New Years is coming up, anyone considering a resolution?

[Ultralight]

From what I understand, you don't need to say that you "are horrible" at meditating because you have thoughts wandering in and out. Everyone does! The key is to accept the thoughts like flotsam and jetsam floating down a stream in front of you, and just observe the thoughts and let them drift away. Don't think of yourself as a meditation flunky just because you have wandering thoughts! We all do!

My trick is to focus on an image, rather than a word or mantra. I find I'm more successful by peering into an empty vessel inside me. I imagine all kinds of sooty particles clouding up my glass vessel and I try to meditate them away so that the light that's running through me into the vessel can emanate outwards.

I sometimes imagine that my mind is made of Teflon. Thoughts come into the pan and slide off. Sometimes I latch onto them though. When I realize this I just come back to my breathing.

[freshstart]

thanks for the help!

[ToomuchStuff]

Kind of surprised this thread is still going.
I have only made and kept one New Years resolution. Made it sometime in the last 20 years (don't remember when)....

My NY resolution, was to make no more NY resolutions.
When I have wanted change, I have done it gradual, or at a different time of year. Example, I started losing weight once, just before Thanksgiving, going into the holidays. If I didn't stick to it then, why would I January 1st?

[Ultralight]

I can dig it.

I just use New Year's as a time to do a resolution because:
1. It is handy; the start of year and the end of year are easy to remember.
2. I like the idea of doing something that is really hard; most people abandon their resolutions. I have made a lifestyle out of being the exception.

I also use my birthday, which is in July for resolutions. Again, this is just easy to remember. I usually do two resolutions are year, maybe three or maybe just one. It varies.

[catherine]

I think one of the reasons New Year's is a good time for me to start (at least this year) is that I have downtime the last two weeks of December more or less. So I can kind of press the pause and then the reset button. It's hard to reset when you're still going full-throttle.

For instance, I spent this vacation just clearing out my head and trying to kill off the "gnats" that distract me all day long. It was great! So I took the time to explore a new way to approach my days and start a new habit or two. I got a couple of apps that are helping me on this journey: one is called Way of Life and it helps build habits by making you accountable for ticking off the every day goals you might have. For me, it's "making my bed," "meditation," "yoga," "take vitamins," "watch Brian Johnson video."

I'm also trying very hard to close loops. I have a bad habit of starting, stopping, multitasking, putting things aside, and generally just never closing any loops, so that adds to my cluttered mind. That's a resolution I now have with my clearer head: if I take out a card to write a note, gosh darn it, just write the note! Then put a stamp on it! Then take it to the gosh darned post office!

Those are my New Year's resolutions

[Zoe Girl]

So last night our meditation group had 6 people plus the facilitator, and then the other facilitator and I were sick so that was 2 people who are there every week typically. 6 is a big number, figuring without illness it could have been 8 is a big deal. I talked to the leader after the meeting and he said some people came back who haven't been in a year now. We were of course very excited, we have been trying for better numbers for some time, and then we realized it was resolution season and so we are getting a surge along with yoga classes and gyms and the health food grocery store. Hey, maybe some will stay (I set an ambitious meditation goal myself)

[Ultralight]

What was your meditation goal?


I am one week into meditating 20 minutes daily. Still doing it!

[Zoe Girl]

I want to do 20 hours this month. Very ambitious, about 40 minutes a day or considering that I usually do more on the weekends I can do 30 minutes on a weekday.

[Ultralight]

I want to do 20 hours this month. Very ambitious, about 40 minutes a day or considering that I usually do more on the weekends I can do 30 minutes on a weekday.

Bold!

[Zoe Girl]

busy work is a challenge and this stupid lingering cough from being sick. I started timing how long I go between coughs for fun,