Kicking
off
the
New
Year
How
is
your
interest
or
practice
of
meditation
progressing
into
this
New
Year?
Kicking
off
the
New
Year
on
the
right
foot
when
you're
motivated
is
easy.
But
how
do
you
maintain
new
healthy
habits
when
your
resolve
starts
to
fade?
This
newsletter
covers
a
number
of
ideas
to
help
you
make
positive
and
healthy
mind
and
body
changes
for
the
year
ahead.
You
may
have
thought
about
participating
in
our
More
than
Meditation
Course
starting
Feb
28th,
6
consecutive
Tuesday
evenings.
View
the
information
panel
below
or
click
here
to
download
our
PDF
brochure.
Paying
attention
As
meditation
allows
one
to
develop
a
closer
relationship
with
mind,
our
ability
to
pay
attention
and
be
mindful,
enriches
our
life
experiences
in
every
moment.
Every
moment
of
our
life
we
are
subject
to
the
flow
of
thoughts
and
feelings,
sensations
and
desires,
conscious
and
unconscious
processes
shape
our
nervous
system
like
water
gradually
carving
furrows
and
eventually
galleries
on a
hillside.
Our
brain
is
continually
changing
its
structure.
The
only
question:
is
it
for
better
or
worse?
Rick
Hanson
Ph.D.,
neuropsychologist
tells
us,
"What
ever
you
hold
in
your
mind
(attention)
has
a
special
power
to
change
your
brain.
Neuroscience
refers
to
it
as
"experience-dependent neuroplasticity."
Attention
is
like
a
combination
spotlight
and
vacuum
cleaner;
it
illuminates
what
it
rests
upon
and
then
sucks
it
up
into
your
brain-and
yourself.
Controlling
your
attention-becoming
more
able
to
place
it
where
you
want
it
and
keep
it
there,
and
more
able
to
pull
away
from
what
troubles
you
(such
as
continuous
and
repetitive
anxious
preoccupations,
negative
assessment
or
self
criticism)-is
the
foundation
of
changing
your
brain,
and
therefore
your
life,
for
the
better.
To
gain
better
control
of
attention-to
become
more
mindful
and
more
able
to
concentrate,
we
need
to
overcome
a
few
challenges.
Built
into
our
survival
mechanism
possibly,
we
have
evolved
to
be
stimulation
hungry
and
easily
distracted.
There
is
also
a
natural
range
of
temperament,
from
focused
and
cautious
to
destructible
and
adventuresome.
Upsetting
experiences-especially
traumatic
ones-train
the
brain
to
be
vigilant,
with
attention
wandering
from
one
thing
to
another.
Our
modern
life
with
the
extraordinary
advances
in
our
technological
digital
age
makes
us
almost
dependent
on
an
intense
incoming
stream
of
stimuli,
so
that
anything
less–like
the
sensations
of
simply
breathing–can
feel
unrewarding,
boring
or
frustrating.
This
month's
articles
are:
•
Making healthy habits stick for 2012
•
Teaching Children how to clear their minds
•
2 Powerful brain training methods to help depression
•
Boost your self-esteem with meditation
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