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108 Day Mindfulness Practice

108 Day Mindfulness Practice

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Here are 108 suggestions for your own personalized 108-day mindfulness practice.

As the New Year begins, I invite you to participate in a 108 day mindfulness practice. This is an opportunity to raise your own personal bar of mindfulness in whatever area of your life you choose. This 108-day practice is intended as a devotional process, and allows you to do 108 days of ritual worship, raise your own mindfulness to a higher level or contribute to the community at large in a more intentional manner. You can make this practice whatever you wish it to be, you can go the distance with the same intent, you can change your practice every day, or every week if you want; there is no good/bad, right/wrong or failure. The practice can be a form of worship, self-care, community service, relationship revitalization, health and wellness—or all of the above.

Why 108 days? 108 is a sacred number in numerous traditions and 108 is the number of beads on Buddhist and Hindu Prayer Malas. So rather than merely chanting your devotion 108 times, the invitation here is to turn 108 days into your devotional practice.

Why mindfulness? I have found that either the ego or the spirit is “running our ship”. If there is not an awakened Spirit at the helm, the ego takes over. The ego, while having good intentions of protection, lacks any skills, finesse or wisdom and is generally the one at the wheel when we “crash” our health, our relationships and our happiness. Mindfulness wakes up the Spirit. When we are self-observant, we become self-aware. When we are self-aware, we realize we have choices. When we have choices, we are powerful and capable to move our lives in healthier directions.

As the New Year begins it is the perfect opportunity to birth something new, do something differently or to begin again. Here are 108 suggestions for your own personalized 108-day mindfulness practice.

  1. 108 days of no refined sugar
  2. 108 days of vegetarian diet
  3. 108 days of no wheat or gluten
  4. 108 days alcohol or drug free
  5. 108 days of daily meditation
  6. 108 days of daily labyrinth walks
  7. 108 days of journal work
  8. 108 days of artistic creation—art, creative writing
  9. 108 days of music—singing/playing/practicing an instrument
  10. 108 days of mindful/kind self-talk
  11. 108 days of mirror exercise (looking into own eyes, saying nice things, breathing)
  12. 108 days of yoga/tai chi/qigong practice
  13. 108 days of daily walks/runs or exercise regime
  14. 108 days of creating a daily Haiku or poem of your experience
  15. 108 days of photographing all you are grateful for
  16. 108 days of consciously saying grace before meals
  17. 108 days of saying bedtime prayers
  18. 108 days of positive social media posts
  19. 108 days of mindful “technology device” use….or non-use
  20. 108 days of gratitude practice
  21. 108 days of conscious kindness to spouse
  22. 108 days of random acts of kindness to strangers
  23. 108 days of no excuses
  24. 108 days of saying please, and thank you
  25. 108 days of making money
  26. 108 days of tithing
  27. 108 days of volunteering
  28. 108 days of seeking/seeing beauty
  29. 108 days of writing down a memory
  30. 108 days of being on time
  31. 108 days of no complaining or arguing
  32. 108 days of abstinence (or the opposite!)
  33. 108 days of self care
  34. 108 days of prioritizing someone else
  35. 108 days of spending intentional time alone
  36. 108 days of driving carefully and consciously
  37. 108 days of reading uplifting, inspirational material
  38. 108 days of taking conscious steps toward a specific goal
  39. 108 days of reaching out to old friends
  40. 108 days of forgiveness
  41. 108 days of learning about something new
  42. 108 days of waking up with a positive attitude
  43. 108 days of watching TED talks or other uplifting/educational inspirational media
  44. 108 days without TV
  45. 108 days without the news
  46. 108 days practicing trust rather than worry
  47. 108 days of compassion and non-judgment
  48. 108 days of being impeccable with your words
  49. 108 days of adventure
  50. 108 days of trying new foods
  51. 108 days of being honest
  52. 108 days of reading books you have always wanted to
  53. 108 days of swimming
  54. 108 days of doing what your inner child wants to do
  55. 108 days of throwing things out or giving them away
  56. 108 days of celebrating life with some sort of ritual, offering incense, lighting a candle, offering a flower
  57. 108 days of mandala creation (with flowers, food, leaves, drawing…your choice)
  58. 108 days of mindful meditative steps
  59. 108 days of being present
  60. 108 days of making your bed
  61. 108 days of abstaining from gossip
  62. 108 days of caring for your animals/pets at a higher level
  63. 108 days of doing that which you put off—no more procrastinating
  64. 108 days of transforming your web site into what you wish it was
  65. 108 days of random acts of gratitude
  66. 108 days of practicing peaceful thoughts and actions
  67. 108 days of cleaning house
  68. 108 days of doing dishes after every meal
  69. 108 days of tending to your garden
  70. 108 days of political action or political non-action
  71. 108 days of saying thank you
  72. 108 days of being unplugged (don’t have to be consecutive days. If you did ever third day unplugged, you would get your 108.
  73. 108 days of saving money
  74. 108 days of investing money
  75. 108 days of going to church/temple
  76. 108 days of waking up early
  77. 108 days of going to bed early
  78. 108 days of watching meaningful movies
  79. 108 days of no make up (celebrating natural beauty)
  80. 108 days of no swearing
  81. 108 days of sending a good thought for someone you love
  82. 108 days of sending kind thoughts to someone you don’t like or need to forgive
  83. 108 days of saying thank you to Mother Earth every day …
  84. 108 days of picking up trash, recycling
  85. 108 days of planting seeds or trees
  86. 108 days of consciously questioning your beliefs and looking at them differently for alternative perspectives
  87. 108 days of going somewhere you’ve never been before
  88. 108 days of honoring your intuition
  89. 108 days of journaling or drawing with your non-dominant hand
  90. 108 days of praying for the President and Government’s wisdom
  91. 108 days of visualizing world peace
  92. 108 days of praying for refugees
  93. 108 days of conscious kindness to animals…
  94. 108 days of transforming/releasing/mastering a specific fault
  95. 108 days of devotion to a enhancing a specific value (service, compassion, work)
  96. 108 days of recounting all your daily successes
  97. 108 days of time management, setting your intentions and mindfully following through
  98. 108 days of saying “I love you”
  99. 108 days of mindfully giving and receiving hugs
  100. 108 days of practicing Ho’oponopono (“I love you, please forgive me, thank you, I’m sorry”)
  101. 108 days of studying other religions beliefs and practices
  102. 108 days of praying for deceased loved ones/ancestors
  103. 108 days of sending a postcard or letter to someone every day
  104. 108 days of dropping lucky pennies or love notes or inspiring quotes for other people to find
  105. 108 days of doing something that takes courage
  106. 108 days of trying a new recipe
  107. 108 days of learning a new language
  108. 108 days of sharing a meal with someone else or providing a meal for someone else

You can pick one or several, or do a different one each day or week. The important thing is to make every word, thought, and action an offering of devotion and watch the Spirit within you respond! My mom used to say, “Every step you take toward God, God takes 1000 steps toward you!” Here’s to 108 beautifully intended steps into 2017!

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