Timing Our Day Consciously

Taking part in Oprah and Deepak’s 21 Day Meditation Experience Manifesting True Success has given me food for thought. In particular, today I am thinking about how I spend my day.

Too often I feel unsatisfied at the end of the day. Whether it was not having time for fun or not accomplishing something that I had planned to do.

Today’s meditation “Timing For Success” showed how we can look back at our day and feel good about it, if we follow the model for mastering time from psychiatrist, Dr. Daniel Siegel. His work shows the best way to have a healthy brain that supports a person’s well-being. He suggests dividing our time into seven different ways each day.  They are:

  • Sleep time – to get a full night restful sleep
  • Physical time – to move and let your body be active
  • Focus time – to be alone for awhile to concentrate on what matters to you
  • Time in – for meditation, prayer or self-reflection
  • Time Out – for simply resting or existence
  • Play time – for fun in a carefree mood
  • Connecting time – intimate private time between those you love and care for

Deepak goes on to explain that this isn’t just about having a well-planned day.  Each step optimizes different areas of the brain which leads to expanded awareness and a sense of fulfillment.

I like that. It makes sense to me.

We can strive to be masters of our time each day and have a map to help us on our way.

Reflect and Rejoice

January 1 is typically the day that many people make New Years Resolutions.  While that can be a worthy practice, I prefer to do what I call “reflect and rejoice” in early January.

Allow me to explain.

The start of a new year provides us all with the opportunity to change our calendars to a new one. If you are like me, the old calendar will have birthdays, anniversaries and appointments scribbled all over it. Before you recycle that old calendar, take the time to go through each month looking at the various days and the notes written. Reflect on the memories that each one provides and rejoice or give thanks for the experiences they provided.

Whether the past year was happy or sad, each day provided an opportunity for growth physical, mental or spiritual. In the end, it’s all good.

Happy New Year!