I thought I would share something I have been writing for my new book. As we are all in this time of isolation it might be a good time to consider practicing mindfulness as a tool to help us in these troubled times. I hope you enjoy reading.
How often do we just sit, and, just be. Observing the world around us? Maybe on holiday or an away day we will sit outside a cafe and watch the world go by. I am of a generation that was always told that the devil makes work for idle hands, so we grew up feeling guilty if we just sat and did nothing. We can sit with busy hands and still be mindful. Knitting, sewing, crochet, and wood turning are all activities that are conducive to mindfulness and my favourite hobbies spinning and weaving I am sure you can think of similar sitting activities that allow for mindfulness. Activities where we can focus on what we are doing looking, feeling, listening observing ourselves within the activity in touch with how we feel whether that be at peace, joyful agitated, frustrated, satisfied. It is as important to observe what we tend to think of as negative emotions as those seen as positive. When an emotion such as frustration rises in you observe it, where you feel it, what it feels like, if it had a colour what colour would it be, if it had a shape what shape would it be, observe but not judge, you can love yourself for having that experience . Sitting with hands occupied with an activity you can find mindfulness in is excellent practice and can also be productive, however, sometimes it is good to just and sit. Looking at whatever presents itself to you without judging anything (especially yourself) just sit, look, listen, take note how your body is, how is your posture? How are you breathing, how do you feel? Feel yourself part of the space that you are in. We pass through spaces all day long, even during a day at home we move from room to room but do not necessarily feel ourselves part of the space that we are occupying. We might spend a lot of time and money purchasing a sofa or chair that is very comfortable but once it is installed in our house how often do we sit on it and really feel the luxury of the feeling of that item. Maybe for the first few weeks but afterwards it is often the case we only notice how we feel on that chair or sofa when it states to become uncomfortable, maybe the cushions become a bit saggy or the springs push through. If you spend your life dashing around, organising other people and trying to fit 48 hours worth of activity into 24 hours you might find sitting and just being very difficult at first just close your eyes for a moment, take a deep breath to the count of four, hold for four, breath out to a count of four, hold for four and repeat. Do not try to fight the resistance because that is judgement of yourself. Just observe that you are feeling resistance. Notice how that feels, where do you feel it? If necessary stand up and walk around a little then come back to it. If you are not used to this type of practice remember that you are learning a new skill and like all new skills it might be something you find relatively easy or it might take a little practice to become adept at it but it will come because it is a natural way to be, it is just that we have forgotten how to be mindful. I believe that very few people can be mindful all the time, the real art is in catching yourself when you are not mindful and bringing yourself back into a mindful state. To be able to catch yourself slipping out of mindfulness you have to be observant of yourself and that is of course mindfulness.
#mindfulness #blog #peace #serenity
How often do we just sit, and, just be. Observing the world around us? Maybe on holiday or an away day we will sit outside a cafe and watch the world go by. I am of a generation that was always told that the devil makes work for idle hands, so we grew up feeling guilty if we just sat and did nothing. We can sit with busy hands and still be mindful. Knitting, sewing, crochet, and wood turning are all activities that are conducive to mindfulness and my favourite hobbies spinning and weaving I am sure you can think of similar sitting activities that allow for mindfulness. Activities where we can focus on what we are doing looking, feeling, listening observing ourselves within the activity in touch with how we feel whether that be at peace, joyful agitated, frustrated, satisfied. It is as important to observe what we tend to think of as negative emotions as those seen as positive. When an emotion such as frustration rises in you observe it, where you feel it, what it feels like, if it had a colour what colour would it be, if it had a shape what shape would it be, observe but not judge, you can love yourself for having that experience . Sitting with hands occupied with an activity you can find mindfulness in is excellent practice and can also be productive, however, sometimes it is good to just and sit. Looking at whatever presents itself to you without judging anything (especially yourself) just sit, look, listen, take note how your body is, how is your posture? How are you breathing, how do you feel? Feel yourself part of the space that you are in. We pass through spaces all day long, even during a day at home we move from room to room but do not necessarily feel ourselves part of the space that we are occupying. We might spend a lot of time and money purchasing a sofa or chair that is very comfortable but once it is installed in our house how often do we sit on it and really feel the luxury of the feeling of that item. Maybe for the first few weeks but afterwards it is often the case we only notice how we feel on that chair or sofa when it states to become uncomfortable, maybe the cushions become a bit saggy or the springs push through. If you spend your life dashing around, organising other people and trying to fit 48 hours worth of activity into 24 hours you might find sitting and just being very difficult at first just close your eyes for a moment, take a deep breath to the count of four, hold for four, breath out to a count of four, hold for four and repeat. Do not try to fight the resistance because that is judgement of yourself. Just observe that you are feeling resistance. Notice how that feels, where do you feel it? If necessary stand up and walk around a little then come back to it. If you are not used to this type of practice remember that you are learning a new skill and like all new skills it might be something you find relatively easy or it might take a little practice to become adept at it but it will come because it is a natural way to be, it is just that we have forgotten how to be mindful. I believe that very few people can be mindful all the time, the real art is in catching yourself when you are not mindful and bringing yourself back into a mindful state. To be able to catch yourself slipping out of mindfulness you have to be observant of yourself and that is of course mindfulness.
#mindfulness #blog #peace #serenity