Mindfulness 2016

I seldom have told people what my resolution for the year is, and, honestly, I often do not make one.  I had been thinking about making a resolution for improvement this year and made it official last Saturday by telling my son and his wife what I had resolved.

My awareness of  thoughts and how they can create or destroy inner peace has been a recurring theme for the last few months. I have found myself  having frequent conversations about mindfulness and realizing a renewed awareness of its importance. I have been using more breath work to keep me centered and calm when I feel my emotions surging in negative directions.  

I decided that it was time to start further exercising the contemplative aspects of my life in 2016.  Taking time to be purposefully mindful is a key to increasing one's practice of being mindful.  It operates on the same principal of taking care of one's body.  You do not have to exercise your body every day and eat healthy things every meal, but every time that you do increases your sense of well-being.  

I decided to set up a little corner of my life to accommodate a place to be mindful.  I pulled out an old plant stand, set up the things I like to have to help me center and calm my mind, and made a decision to take a few minutes frequently to meditate.  I have things from the past that  I have used but have been remiss in taking the time to do so in recent years.  I bought a small rug to put under my zafu (meditation cushion) since my wooden floors are a bit chilly in the winter.  No other expenditure was necessary.

This habit has not been exercised in recent years, so I am dusting it off and building my stamina.  To my delight, I am up to 15 minutes in a setting and have meditated 5 of the last 6 days.  It really does help to be accountable to others about it.  I have told a couple of friends of my intent.  

What is the importance of meditation?  In this crazy, busy world that we live in, in which we can use all manner of electronic entertainment to keep our minds engaged in often distressing news and negative energy, it is a place of calm.  As you clear your mind and invite peace and love to be the center of your thoughts, amazing clarity comes.

Meditation is a place where you can see your connection to all living beings.  In a world that often wants to point out our differences, which by the way are all just thoughts and not reality, it brings unity.

May 2016 contain an abundance of peace and love for each of you.