Everyday Mindfulness

So, I'm working on my New Year's Resolutions / Themes for 2014.

My core theme is "reducing / decluttering / minimising / downsizing" my belongings so that I have only the core essentials - like a modern-day nomad.

It's a task that feels daunting and invigorating at the same time.

If you have any mindfulness-related tips or articles to suggest, I'd be really grateful!

XXX Janey

Okay, so I've decided to go with the idea "What would I take with me, if I were to move?" instead of "What should I get rid of?"
That seems more helpful.

Janey

I like your reframe! Another one I heard is to "release" rather than "get rid of". Somehow "release" feels more like being in the flow to me.

I remember reading an article once on mindfulness and clutter. They suggested that you take a particular surface and remove everything off it, and clean it while it has nothing on it. Then sit with each thing, one at a time with mindfulness. Feel the sensations in your body, the emotions associated with the item, the thoughts etc... and from that place of mindfulness see the reasons you have for holding onto it and putting back on the surface, and make your decision with each item like that. Don't know if it will help you, but thought I'd share in case it does.

I've found that when I'm doing something unconsciously, I'm much more likely to do it quickly and not finish the job properly, or procrastinate and leave something for later, and therefore leave it to become clutter. I'm trying to be more mindful around both, and when I am I'm much more likely to clean something up in the moment.

Happy mindfulness!

Betty

betty.etal wrote:I remember reading an article once on mindfulness and clutter. They suggested that you take a particular surface and remove everything off it, and clean it while it has nothing on it. Then sit with each thing, one at a time with mindfulness. Feel the sensations in your body, the emotions associated with the item, the thoughts etc... and from that place of mindfulness see the reasons you have for holding onto it and putting back on the surface, and make your decision with each item like that. Don't know if it will help you, but thought I'd share in case it does.

Hi Betty! Cool - I like all of your suggestions and the above suggestion particularly!

I did quite a bit of sorting through stuff already today (got far more done than I thought I would!) and I'm also finding that listening to a mindfulness talk by Jack Kornfield, or similar, while I'm de-cluttering is also helpful - it's helping me stay "in the mindfulness spirit of things" instead of drifting off into mental stories about clutter / tidying / possessions / etc...

Aaaaahhhhh!

P.S. Do you do "resolutions" when a new year starts? If so, do you want to share any?

Wow, sounds like you are off to a roaring start well before the new year even arrives. :0) Taking the time to listen to a mindfulness talk is a brilliant idea!

I hadn't really thought about resolutions for this year. I think the most important one is probably to learn to be kind to myself. I'm in recovery from childhood trauma and have a tendency to push myself too hard. So I want to really learn to relax and build some "relaxation neural networks" in my brain. Along with building more mindfulness muscles too, as that's helping me with so much.

Betty

Eek - I just saw this month's credit card bill... I need to get a really good New Year's resolution about "spending less" worked out, too....
There have been so many additional costs lately...

The worst one to cut back on is going to be spending on books, which I've done lots on this year... Poop.

A huge factor this year has been my mid-life crisis... I decided to invest in a lot of "life changing" stuff. I figure it's hard to do a life-transforming mid-life crisis thing, without "investing" in a new life... I think it's been money well spent, but it has been, well... "spent"...

And I have quite a bit of "mid-life crisis" road left to travel, I think... I guess it will need to be far more frugal travelling from now on! I guess that kind of ties in neatly with my 2014 theme of living like a "modern nomad"... Nomads live pretty frugally, I guess. - Also, not spending as much would be a sensible part of reducing my belongings... as else I'd just end up filling newly won space with new "stuff"...

betty.etal wrote:I hadn't really thought about resolutions for this year. I think the most important one is probably to learn to be kind to myself.
Betty

Yeah, being kind to yourself would a great theme for the year ahead.

I really like New Year's Resolutions... I love the opportunity of reflecting on the year just passed / passing and on the year ahead... Love mindfully exploring where the focus should lie in the weeks and months ahead...

OMG - I have just cleaned out the whole cellar. I can't believe it.

It only took 2 or 3 hours (I'm guessing - didn't check the time) this afternoon.

The cellar looks like it belongs to someone else - some neat-freak family, and not chaotic me...

This (ridiculously untidy and cluttered cellar) has been bugging me for 3-4 years now, but so far there's always either been more urgent stuff to do, I've felt too exhausted, or the task seemed too overwhelming.

This time, with all the brilliant mindfulness work put into the issue of decluttering / clearing up, before I started, it was *almost* a breeze! (Well, only almost - I don't think any amount of mindfulness is going to make cleaning up a crammed cellar "fun" )

So wow - I'm plowing through this de-cluttering task at an unbelievable pace... It was meant to be my New Year's Resolution for *all* of 2014... It's a good thing we're going away tomorrow morning for a week - else I'd have the entire apartment de-cluttered before it's even New Year's Eve, at this rate!

On the "down side", I must say I feel a bit frazzled from rushing it, this afternoon, tho. My boyfriend came to babysit the 2 dogs (did I mention we got a 2nd dog on the weekend before last? - Well, they're still "getting to know each other", so can't be left on their own in the apartment yet...) So, I kept hurrying my tidying work, so that the b/f wouldn't be dog-sitting for endless hours...

So, I'm not very grounded right now and should REALLY do some mindfulness practice, to connect with myself again. And I MUST, MUST spend the evening doing anything BUT tidying... It would be really negative, to go into tidying-overkill, which is precisely the kind of thing I'd be liable to do, if I don't get myself grounded and un-frazzled now...

Feeling sooooooooo thankful that this mindfulness forum exists right now... So grateful, that voicing my NY's Resolutions - and the mindfulness aspects of them - here has brought so much positive energy to a challenge that has been bugging me for a looooong time!

XXX Janey

Ay, ay, ay... Just realised that I'm going to be sans mindfulness forum for the next week. We're staying at my parents-in-law's and they are still living the pre-internet life
So I'll be checking in again, when we return in the new year.
Happy New Year everyone, and anyone making NY's Resolutions is welcome to carry on this thread in my absence
XXX

Oh dear...

Packing my luggage for our week away, I'm reminded of these 2 Zen-Habits articles:

http://zenhabits.net/crutch/
http://zenhabits.net/crutches/

I'm certainly travelling with what feels like 20 crutches in my suitcase, along for the ride. Ridiculous.

But somehow, I don't feel like a week of staying with the in-laws, with 2 challenging dogs along for the trip, is something I want to be doing right now, without crutches...

Given that my New Year's Resolutions all centre around the "nomad" theme, tho, travelling lightly is something I'm SERIOUSLY going to need to get into this year....

I'm such a cliched girl on this luggage thing too - while my boyfriend usually takes a small bag, with a 2nd change of clothes, I'm the one taking half the contents of the entire apartment with me, in what feels like multiple suitcases...

This time, travelling with 2 difficult dogs has "forced" me to take less of my own luggage along - simply cos there's so much stuff to take that the dogs will be needing there - rugs, dog food, leashes, poo bags, toys, dog-first-aid stuff, etc... Plus, I figure we'll be spending so much time walking the dogs, or babysitting them, so that they don't chew every piece of furniture in my parents-in-law's house to bits, that I doubt we'll have much time for any other activities, which means I'll get by on jeans, T-shirt and jumper combos, pretty much.

I've taken along a few sewing and knitting projects tho, cos I feel like I need something to DO in the afternoons / evenings - else I'll go nuts, cooped up in the living room with the in-laws...

So, really, I've ended up packing quite a number of crutches - which is kind of annoying and NOT very mindful.

I feel like I want my mindfulness and meditation practice to be my main piece of luggage in future... And I want to feel confident that that will see me through, no matter how challenging the trip may be.

One step at a time I guess... I'll practise not relying on my crutches too heavily on this trip and then try and reduce them on all upcoming trips, I guess.

XXX J