One can always improve. So I have New Year’s resolutions too. I will try to accomplish those resolutions in a different way than usual. Most people set a conscious intention. When this doesn’t work, there is a more effective way;
I have noticed that after years of experience in yoga and meditation some good habits come naturally.
An example: A year ago, I started doing more yoga and swimming (I must admit that this was a conscious intention.) Almost at the same time I stopped using medication to sleep after more than ten years of taking the drug. This was no conscious intention. I just felt I didn’t need it anymore and had no symptoms of withdrawal. This reminds me of an anecdote about the Dalai Lama. He spent the night at the house of a rich person. When he was looking for something in the bathroom het noticed a box of sleeping pills. When he tells this he starts smiling and says: “This man was so rich, he could afford anything and yet he needs medication to sleep.”
Another example: Since last summer I stopped using caffeine (coffee, cola, etc.)
I sometimes struggle with the fact that I can’t keep up a vegetarian lifestyle. Each year I have this conscious intention but it doesn’t last long. What is also on the list each year is to keep up doing meditation and yoga in the hope that it has a positive effect on the other resolutions. And also because I like yoga and meditation.
Pieter Dierckx 