a year of experiments

Inspired by Shannon's gift to herself of a year of meditation, I had a brilliant idea for a birthday gift. I am calling it the year of experiments.

See, there are all these practices that ideally, I would include in my (every) day. Things like Shiva Nata, meditation, yoga, drinking 4+ glasses of water, eating leafy green vegetables, eating dessert .. I know that when I do them, my day goes better. I am better. Life is better. It may not always look better on the outside, but it always feels better on the inside. And yet, I include them sporadically at best.

Enter the year of experiments.

They say it takes 30 days to form a habit. Every month, I'll start something new, and do it for the next 30 days. My hope is that by the end of that 30 days, it'll have become a habit, something I just do, like brushing or flossing. (I wish I could remember how long it took before flossing became a habit.) If it's not yet a habit, I figure I'll at least be more likely to do it more often than not, and I can always start again some other month.

This idea also avoids my tendency to try to do everything at once. And that, I can tell you from experience, means that nothing at all sticks.

This month, I am practicing Shiva Nata every day. Yay.

The thing I have noticed so far is that I am more comfortable with the idea of shorter practices if I know I'm going to be practicing every day. And sometimes, the only reason I didn't practice prior to this was because I could only practice for five or ten minutes and it felt like I needed to practice longer to make it worthwhile. (Which is funny because I also know that even a few minutes of Shiva Nata practice can work wonders. The mind is an odd thing.)

We'll see how this goes, but so far, I am liking my present. (Ok, I also gave myself Michael Jackson's This is It album from iTunes, but I am using it for Shiva Nata practice so it doesn't really count.)

Is there something you'd like to incorporate in your life? Feel free to join in! My month is starting on the 16th, but yours could start whenever you want.

Comments

[briana]

I love you for including "eating dessert." I'm joining you when that month rolls around.

And I so agree about the short Shiva Nata practices... it took me awhile to strike a deal with myself that 5 minutes was better than nothing. But once I got over it, everything changed. (All or nothing = mondo pattern.)

Good luck with the experiment. Now you've got me thinking...

[steph]

What a great gift to yourself! While there are a handful of things I'd like to be doing more often (every day would be more than I can manage, I think), your use of the word experiment has taken my brain off in a slightly different direction. What occurs to me is that I might try once per [some time period] do something that I've never done before or something that's outside of my usual comfort zone. Hmmm.... Good thoughts stirring. Thanks!

[Josiane]

What a wonderful gift to yourself! I love that idea.
I've been back to a daily Shiva Nata practice for almost two months now, and I'm really happy about it. Even though I would have like to add many other things to my daily routine, I think not trying to do it all at once really helped. Now that the Shiva Nata practice is going strong, I could choose one new thing, I guess. Not sure which one will win, but meditation is pretty high on my list.
Keep us updated as to how things go, and what you experiment with every month - I'm sure it'll be inspiring!

[elizabeth --]

@Josiane: Wow - two months! That is awesome! And now you are going to teach! Meditation was pretty high on my list, but I had an ulterior motive for choosing Dance of Shiva. ;)

@Steph: Every day is a lot. But, that is what I want for these things, as long as it doesn't turn into a should. Now you've got my brain stirring as well - thank you for sharing that! It makes me think of Havi's "cuddly scientist". There really is so much we can do with the whole experiment thing.

@Briana: Truthfully, I already have dessert daily. ;) What I'd like to do is turn it into more of a ritual-thing where I really enjoy the dessert after a meal or in the afternoon (like tea-time). Will have to ponder when that one comes up. Yeah - that "all or nothing" thing - mondo pattern of mine too. Hopefully the 5 minute practices is helping us shift it. :)

[Rose]

Oh what a wonderful plan!!! I read abook just 2 weeks back called The Happiness Project (by Gretchen Rubin) and she did something similar - taking on a theme each month and commiting to do a couple of new things for that month in the pursuit of happiness.

Well, I think you read my mind:

"This idea also avoids my tendency to try to do everything at once. And that, I can tell you from experience, means that nothing at all sticks."

I do that.. daily, weekly, monthly. All these snazzy plans and -oof-. Nothign takes off because my focus is far too split.

I think I could benefit from daily ShivaNata... how're you keeping track - mentally or with a little chart/calender? It seems the most powerful motivator for most people is seeing it ticked off.

Thanks for sharing, i'll begin today. (let us know how it goes!)
~Rose

[Patty]

Here goes - I'm going to express my complete ignorance... I had to look up shiva nata. I saw a couple of videos. It looks hard to do - especially for those of us not super-coordinated. How hard was this to learn??

[elizabeth --]

@Patty: (I'll reply in email as well, in case you don't see this.) It is hard. The fabulous thing - you want it to be hard. Always. The more you flail, the better the mental epiphanies. This means that as you learn it and it becomes easier, you change levels so it's remains hard.

@Rose: I keep seeing references to that book! I need to see if the library has it. Re. the keeping track question: I am sort of keeping track in my head. I know what day I started, and I'll know when I miss a day, so until that day comes, I know I'm on track. Let me know how your daily practice goes!