Expert Interview / Editorial Idea - Quitters Day
12th January 2019
Media enquiries: helenlewis@literallypr.com
http://www.literallypr.com/public_relations/file/Mick-Timpson---Making-Happy-Work.php
Research and surveys from recent years tell us that this Saturday, 12thJanuary, is the day that many of us will quit our New Year's Resolutions. Known as Quitters Day, it's notorious for being the day we will lose interest in the plans we made at the start of the year - just less than a fortnight earlier!
Whether it's Dry January, Veganuary, daily yoga or running, or any other resolution you made before the start of 2019, how can you avoid being one of those ‘statistics' and keep the momentum going when it comes to sticking to your original plans?
Manchester-based Mick Timpson, founder of beanddo, The YogaLife Project, yoga and meditation teacher and author of Making Happy Work (February 2019) is available for interview, editorial and comment about what you can do to make your New Year's resolutions stick... He has lots of ideas, tips and strategies to get us through without being a Quitter!
And his first recommendation is an ancient yoga technique called Sankalpa! Followed by meditation...even if you've never done it before.
Ifyou decided to make changes in the New Year, you're actually taking part in a yoga practice and employing an ancient technique called Sankalpa, which basically means intention setting. It is comprised of a positive statement of self, and authentic intention to arise, linked to the moment. When we employ modern meditation we set the conditions, create the space for one's real intentions and purpose to rise and take shape naturally. A good example of a sankalpa-based habit of forming intentions tend to be 'I am' statements such as:
"I am at peace with everyone and everything"
"I am relaxed with who I am"
"I am free in mind and body"
"I am deeply fulfilled by all that I do"
"I am creative and skilled"
"I am whole, happy, healthy, harmonious, loving, strong and powerful, only good lies before me..."
There are two things to notice:
Firstly, they are not concerned with 'things or events', such as I need to cut down on red wine and chocolate, ask for a pay rise, rewrite my CV, find a new partner etc.
Secondly, each intention is in the present tense. In this way, we are planting seeds in the nervous system that almost tells your mind/body that your intention is coming to fruition right here, right now. The change will happen all by itself.
The key is to learn modern meditation
Quite simply, learning to meditate gives you the capacity to reset and to make changes. The sort of changes we are talking about here come from deep inside. And it's far more powerful than willpower. Once we learn through meditation that we don't have to be the person we thought we needed to be to get by, but in fact we can just be and do ourselves - we are free - and in that freedom comes this natural resetting.
It's like a reboot - and from there, anything is possible.
The key is to avoid force and instead figure out a way to not push it, but rather manoeuvre around the obstacles so that change happens in life without even thinking about it. Current scientific research supports this insight. Apparently, it's not about willpower or self-control at all; it's about habit forming. When habits develop we are creating new patterns in our neural network. Once this 'rewiring' is complete, it is forever, it never disconnects. That's how you can make your New Year resolutions stick.
To create new habit pathways you need to do one (very easy) thing:
- Learn to meditate
Embed an intention to change inside your meditation practice. In yoga science this is called a Sankalpa. When we employ modern meditation, we set the conditions and create the space for one's real intentions and purpose to rise and take shape naturally.
How do we do it?
Keep your intentions short and to the point. When practising meditation, remind yourself of your intention - repeat it regularly. Through meditation you have created space, you have allowed the mind to settle and the intention will take root; it will form a habit which will in turn enable you to meet your goals and make the changes in your life, no matter what you are doing. If you're determined to make a change - and stick to it - in 2019, learn how to sustain it.
Notes to Editors
For moreinformation, images, interviews, editorial commissions and advance review copies ofMaking Happy Work, contact Helen Lewis or Natalie Trice at Literally PR,helenlewis@literallypr.com/natalietrice@literallypr.com. Online press folder with more information:http://bit.ly/2RchAzM.
Making Happy Work by Mick Timpson is due for release in February 2019 in all good bookshops and online for £9.99:http://www.beanddo.co.uk/making-happy-work-book.html