Wednesday 14 February 2018

Goals and Meditation

     As we move through the year many of us are taking another look at the goals we set for ourselves and are working on implementing them.  Kim of Leland Avenue Studio wrote a post about her goal to meditate. She has found meditation really helps her creativity.  If you don't know Kim's blog it is worth checking out. She writes really thoughtful posts on the creative process.  She also makes beautiful and creative quilts.

     Anyhow Kim's post reminded me that I have wanted to write a post about goals, and some habits that I have found to help me meet my goals.  As it happens Meditation is one of the things I find helpful.

      I have practised meditation off and on for many years. I think my son who is 27 now was about 10 when I started. I have a memory of him plonking down beside me and trying it out for himself.  I am lucky to have a really good meditation leader in my city.  He follows a Tibetan Buddhist practice but the groups he leads are usually non denominational.  Years ago when I started a meditating his advice was to set aside 20 minutes a day.  His goal is to help as many people as he can to use meditation for stress relief and he now suggests aiming for 5 minutes a day.   The repetition is the important thing not the length of time. When we meet as a group we meditate for 20 minutes. 
     
  I'm finding that 5 minutes is not quite enough for me so for now I am aiming for 10 minutes a day.  Meditation helps to calm me down and helps me to deal with the stresses of my day. That in turn frees my heart and imagination  to work on other things that I love.  It also helps me to be brave and to take risks.

     The other daily practices I have found to be useful came from this article here written by Neil Pasricha. He suggests starting each morning by letting go of something negative, by noting something you are grateful for, and by focussing on three attainable goals for the day. You write all of these down in a journal.  I use my Quilters Planner. It takes a couple of minutes to do this.  I find that like meditation, these practices help me to clear my mind and move forward.  I don't use them all the time but when I do I am able to accomplish so much more and move towards my bigger goals.



   I started my day with a 10 minute meditation session followed by the journal exercises. It has been hard for me to sit down and get to this task. My cold/flu has left me feeling a bit fragile and I have had an incident with a friend on my mind. I found that the meditation and excercises helped me to focus and I managed to start working on my February Goal of finishing the quilting on this quilt.   But before I could do this I had to do this.


     
     I cleared and cleaned my sewing table to help the task go more smoothly.  I worked on my quilting in the evening as well and I am feeling like I just might be able to accomplish this goal this month.

     For the next while I will be joining Kim in working on meditating every day. What do you do to help you meet your goals?

11 comments:

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

I've been meaning to try meditation. But I didn't know were to begin. Thanks for sharing.

Raewyn said...

Interesting post Lisa... I guess getting into the habit of these things is the key. Good luck with achieving your quilting goal. PS thanks for the links.

Stitchin At Home said...

You have a good habit and great results will follow.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

The first thing I did was go and read Neil's article. Thank you for that, Lisa. I, too, find that meditation is helpful and I am thinking Neil's "two minute mornings" are a good suggestion to try as well.

Pamela said...

I started the new year with four non-stitching goals for each day: walk at least 10,000 steps, drink at least 8 glasses of water, do at least 50 crunches/sit-ups, and do two things to improve my Japanese skills. I made a little book with 1/2 page for each day. I put colored stitchers on each day when I complete each of these four things. Seeing the stickers on the page and not wanting to break my streak is a good motivator for me.

Kaja said...

I too have been meditating for years - I started to try and improve my sleep (switching off a busy brain) and now fit in 10-20 minutes most days. I make a little list most mornings, but I like the format Neil uses, and could definitely use a reminder to 'let something go' occasionally.

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

Meditation helps with so many things in life, a formal practice is wonderful but you can also do informal practices, such as when eating or cleaning your teeth, focus on the moment. In time of stress such as after dealing with an irate customer, or a near mission the car, try a three minute breathing space, it really helps. How do I know? My husband is a teacher of meditation and author of a meditation book, it's what we do.

Cheryl said...

Thank you for linking the article, it was very good. Meditating is such a good habit for the mind and the body.

Kim S. @ Leland Ave Studios said...

How are you feeling, Lisa, I know you've been under the weather? How has the meditation been going for you? I have to admit, though I've been doing it, I'm having a hard time staying focused for more than a minute or two at a time. I sneak peeks at the timer and can't believe there's still so much time to go. I definitely haven't found a groove yet but I am determined to get there! I am off to read the article that you linked to. Thanks for sharing it and I'm glad we are in this together!

Diana @ Red Delicious Life said...

I haven't tried any sort of meditation since college. I always liked the idea of doing yoga but with my vertigo and headaches it's too much up and down for me and usually triggers an episode. Otherwise, I've not really looked into it. Maybe something new to try for me this year.

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