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!