Mindful Monday - A Few Adjustments

We're approaching the two month mark in 2014, and I'm finding the need to revise and extend my new year's resolutions. How about you?

For starters, I think I prefer "Mindful" Mondays to Mindfulness Mondays. It's a little thing, but when you want to stay motivated, sometimes little things matter. Similarly, using the adjective rather than the noun as my word/theme for the year somehow feels less passive, even though the basic intent is unchanged. 

As for my check in, it has been a thoroughly unimpressive week in terms of progress toward my goals. I haven't eaten well or slept enough. Although the weather has been quite nice, I've gotten very little exercise (with the exception of a nice walk yesterday). I haven't done much reading either. I spent the week in Asheville while most of the clutter is in Atlanta, so there's no progress to report on that front. I have started some new projects and finally tackled some things I had been procrastinating about, so I have at least managed to eliminate a few more energy drains.

I had an opportunity to meet an old high school friend of my husband's over the weekend. He and Bill hadn't seen each other in decades, so meeting him was very much in keeping with a focus on relationships--people over things.

The one resolution I have remained consistent about is sitting to mediate for at least 12 minutes each day, but I confess that I wish I felt better at it. I realize that cultivating non-judgmental awareness in the present moment means not getting bent out of shape that my mind wanders so much, but it often takes me a very long time to remember to even try to guide my attention back to the breath, where, of course, it doesn't stay.

I remind myself that these things are simply part of the process of meditating, but I'm growing weary of what starts to feel rather fruitless after a while with no noticeable improvement, so I've been experimenting with other ways of meditating, including guided meditations, chanting, meditating both with and without music of various kinds, and meditations which, instead of using the breath or a mantra as a focus, instead use a series of statements that progress in prescribed ways throughout the meditation. (I'll write more about this last method later this week, because I am finding lovingkindness meditation especially helpful.)

The other addition I want to make to my list of resolutions is to be sure I'm drinking enough water--at least eight 8 oz. glasses per day (a couple of which can be a beverage other than water, such as juice, milk, or a green smoothie). I don't mind drinking water, so it shouldn't be difficult, but if I'm not mindful of how much I have each day, I don't get enough. In the past, tracking my water intake has been an important part of weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight for me. So maybe this small step will help steer my weight loss efforts in a more positive direction.


Those are the adjustments that feel right at the moment, and I will very likely make additional changes along the way.

Maybe you are ready to make some adjustments as well? If you didn't declare any new year's resolutions, perhaps you've since begun to formulate some goals for the rest of the year. Whatever the case may be, I invite you to share some intentions and/or observations about how things are going for you, in these Mindful Monday check-ins.