SUMMERTIME RESOLUTIONS

by Susan Hayes

As we near the half-way mark through the year 2002, now is a good time to review our New Year's resolutions and gauge our progress. How many of us can still recall what we resolved to do five months ago? And, even if we can remember what our intentions were, how have we succeeded in achieving any of them?
We need not be discouraged if we have not yet succeeded in achieving our New Year's resolutions. Paramhansa Yogananda advised that: "A habit is the result of concentration of the mind. You have been thinking in a certain way. To form a new and good habit, just concentrate in the opposite direction." Buddhists also believe that, in order to wipe out destructive thoughts and emotions, we need only cultivate a positive mental state. Anger, for instance, can be alleviated by reflecting on loving-kindness: arrogance by reflecting on humility, and agitation can be subdued with equanimity. William James, a 19th Century American philosopher, prescribed a similar recipe for change: "If we wish to conquer undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves, we must assiduously, and in the first instance cold--bloodedly, go through the outward movements of those contrary dispositions which we prefer to cultivate."
So, we need to "fake it 'till we make it." However, before we can change our habits, we need to become aware of what those habits are.
In her book Emotional Alchemy, Tara Bennett-Goleman, a cognitive therapist and Buddhist meditator, insists that self-awareness (what the Buddhists call "mindfulness") is the key to changing our habitual way of living. In The Yoga Sutras, Patanjali asserted that turbulent thoughts and emotions - or "vrittis" in Sanskrit - could be destroyed by the practice of yoga. Swami Satchidananda, in his commentaries on The Yoga Sutras, explains Patanjali's reasoning: "Thought forms in a potential state (samskaras)cannot be removed by meditation. When you meditate on these impressions you bring them to the surface. You can't destroy them by this means, but you can see and understand them well and gain control over whether or not they should manifest in action."
Thus, yoga and meditation can help us increase our awareness of how our bodies are feeling, how we are breathing, what thoughts are going through our minds, and how we are reacting to those thoughts - emotionally or behaviorally. To get on track toward self-improvement, try to do some deep-breathing, some yoga postures, and/or some meditation every day. You will notice a difference soon!