New Year New You?

 

If 2023 came on a bit fast for you, I completely understand. I hated 2022 for all the reasons, but wasn’t quite prepared for 2023 a couple of weeks back when we rang in the New Year.

Winter is a hard time for me. I get serious hibernation vibes with the cold and dark. I eat more than I should. Often the first couple of weeks of the year I’m trying to unload my refrigerator and cabinets of the leftover holiday food. So many holiday cookies, candy, breads, and cheese. I know I claim to be plant based, and mostly I am, but my cheese weakness creeps in around December 1 and wanes once the cheese is gone. My excuse is that I entertain, and what’s a social gathering without cheese, right?

Along with over eating I sleep more. I like to wake with the sunrise, however in the Pacific Northwest the sun comes up late in the winter. Right now in mid January the sun doesn’t come up until about 7:50 AM. Naturally I can’t wait until almost 8:00 AM to wake up each day, so I end up being a bit sluggish in the morning when I get up at 5:30 AM. Summer will be better.

One thing that helps me is mindfulness. I have well established daily routines so I don’t have much to plan each day. That allows me to incorporate mindfulness into my regular activities.

Often people who begin meditating are challenged with a few aspects of the practice-

• They bite off more than they can chew by trying to engage in meditation too often for too long

• They feel they are “doing it wrong” when they become distracted

• They fall asleep

• They misconstrue the purpose and therefore have unrealistic expectations of the outcome

If any of this seems familiar, never fear, I will let you in on a couple of my mindfulness secrets that I employ to help me remain focused, even in winter when a cozy nap seems so appealing.

Before I provide a couple of hints, you may wonder why on earth people meditate at all. People who meditate have new perspectives on challenges they face, they build skills, they have self awareness, they reduce negative emotions and on and on. Those are good reasons to at least consider practicing meditation.

• Try micro meditations to start. A micro meditation is focusing on what is happening in the moment, for example, when you get up from your desk to get water from the cooler, notice how your chair sounds when you stand, notice what the lights look like in the corridor, notice the sounds of people working. When you fill you cup notice the sound the water cooler makes, the sound of the water flowing in to your cup and so on. Micro meditations can happen anytime you want and can be a great way to break up your day then get back on track. I like to micro meditate when I shower, I notice how the water feels and sounds, how my skin feels, what my wet hair feels like. This is an alternative to ruminating or planning my day.

• If you decide you need more than a micro meditation limit your first practices to 10 minutes. Don’t listen to the naysayers who suggest you must practice for an hour to get something out of it. That’s not true; meditation is a very individual practice. In the beginning it’s hard, that’s why it’s called practice.

• Don’t worry if you become distracted, everyone becomes distracted. When you notice your thoughts wandering bring them back to a “trigger”. I like to feel the sensation of my breath on my upper lip as I exhale out my nose. For some people it might be feeling the relaxation of their forehead. It can be counting with each inhale and exhale. You can do a whole body scan and purposefully relax your forehead, jaw, shoulders and so on all the way down to your toes. You can incorporate a mantra, which is any nonsense two syllable word or phrase that you can mentally recite. I use Ki Ring.

• If you fall asleep that’s okay. If falling asleep is disruptive to your schedule, set a timer.

• The purpose of meditation is to clear your mind. Clearing your mind for one minute or thirty minutes is an amazing feeling. Not thinking of anything at all for even a small amount of time is a tremendous feat. We have brains and our brains don’t want to stop thinking. If you can achieve this you have accomplished a rare act. Appreciate it and do it again.

With those hints in your pocket I suggest you begin each meditation session with intention. Your session may or may not incorporate your intention, but intention is a good way to start.

Here’s what I do to meditate-

1. Tell my spouse that I plan to mediate so I don’t have any disruptions

2. Set a timer for the time I want to practice

3. Set my intention, for example, “I want to visualize writing my next book successfully.” Or “I want to visualize how I’ll feel after walking three miles most days.”

4. Play neutral meditation sounds, like a creek flowing, waves on lapping on the shore, wind blowing, or monks chanting. Use head phones for maximum benefit.

5. I begin with a body scan, head to toes, and purposefully relax my body in sections.

6. I focus on the feeling of my breath on my upper lip as I exhale out my nose

7. When I become distracted I recite my mantra, Ki Rin’, in sync with my inhale and exhale until I’m back on track

That’s it. I have been spotty in the past couple of weeks with my practice, because it’s the beginning of the New Year and I’m inconsistent in many areas of my life. But the good news is that the cheese has been consumed so I can now focus on the rest of m life.

Will you consider meditation this year? I hope so, I’ve found the practice helpful in many ways, and I know many other people who also find it helpful.

If you don’t feel as though you can jump in without more guidance, I suggest finding an app or other resource online to help you with your practice. There are tons of free guided meditation videos on YouTube. You don’t have to “watch them”, just listen. When you find a voice you like follow them and listen when you have time. Several people who have YouTube videos also offer paid audio downloads so you can meditate when you are away from the internet.

Once you have a handle on your practice, I suggest setting your intention to be a frugal person. Visualize your debt free life. Visualize having little financial pressure. Visualize explaining to your friends and family how freeing it is to have no debt. Visualize how you will feel when you pay off your loans. Visualize telling your boss that the job you have is no longer serving you and you have decided to move on, go back to school or transition to an entrepreneurial endeavor. Visualize good health. Visualize healthy interactions with loved ones. Visualize a successful interview with a new prospective client or employer.

You can buy my book “Your Future Self Workbook: A Time Travelers Manifestation Workbook for Intentional Well Being”. It has a link to my guided visualizations which you may find helpful.