Being mindful. Practicing “mindfulness”. These are the the phrases that have have been hitting me from all sides this past week. From celebrities on the talk shows, to books on the morning news, mindfulness has been the topic of late. Then yesterday, and again today, two different blogs that I follow were about being mindful. Being mindful? Yes, say the blogs, attend to what you are doing at the moment. Uh, isn’t being mindful just paying attention to what you’re doing? As I recall, parents and teachers have been telling me to keep my mind on what I was doing since I was seven years old. Now, it’s a thing. There are books about it, classes to take on it and you “practice” it.
I admit, for two weeks I’ve really been stumped by this concept. What is all the big to do about keeping your mind on what you’re doing at the moment? Out of all I’ve seen, heard, and read, this is all I’ve gotten out of this topic. Then finally, today, I read a blog about mindfulness that I actually understood. There is a point. It’s a good one.
Leigha Hall talked about a mindful moment that I, myself, experience every morning-brushing her teeth. She explained how while brushing her teeth, her mind always wanders far and wide. Since she’s been practicing mindfulness however, she really tries to keep her mind on the up-and-down motion of the brush and the feel of it on her teeth. I empathize. Every morning while brushing my teeth, I stand in front of a window. As I brush my teeth and look out into the tree tops behind my house, my mind wanders far and wide, too. To me, this is very relaxing. I like looking out at the trees outside the window, my mind wandering through things that I may do during the day today. The up-and-down, back-and-forth, moving of the brush is very soothing, while I’m gathering inspiration and energy for my up-coming day. When I am done, my thoughts are all in order and I’m ready to bound out the door and take on the first thing on my list. This business of being mindful, and keeping my mind just on my toothbrush and what it’s doing to my teeth, instead of organizing my day, appeared very confusing to me.
Then, Leigha, in her blog, My Bikram Yoga Life*, said:
“I found I’m learning to recognize life for what it really is – the moment we are experiencing right now. Which means life is about a lot of simple, drama-free things like washing my hands, walking the dog, making dinner and checking to see how my peppers and tomatoes are growing. I am happier when my brain is not making up stories about what is going to happen next week.”
The line “life is about a lot of simple, drama-free, things” caught my attention. It made me feel instantly calmer. Then, “My brain is not making up stories about what is going to happen next week.” Hmmm… keeping my mind on what I am doing right now, lessens worry and anxiety about what is going to happen in the future. I like this mindfulness concept. I think I’m going to make a concentrated effort to “practice” this thing for the next few days, and monitor my worry/anxiety level.
And so, as another day goes by, I’m rising up from the chair…my feet hit the cool hardwood floor…I take three steps toward the kitchen…oh..uh..what was I going there for? Uh oh, maybe for me the correct term is “mindlessness”…and…I have written.
*Leigha’s blog can be found at:
http://mybikramyogalife.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/all-youve-got-is-now/
Yes,Linda for us,mindfulness means focusing on all the beautiful things happening simultaneously around us in each moment,instead of constantly trying to figure it all out:)
Coincidentally, my mind also tends to wander when brushing my teeth. In the morning, I tend to think of how things will go during the day. At night, it’s mostly how long and good my sleep’s going to be.
It’s best to take advantage of brushing our teeth to do some other activities. Contemplating is something good to do while brushing. As you brush, you can have your mind tap on your issues, or anything that needs serious thinking. You can even do this while you assess your skin condition as you stare at your reflection on the mirror. Hehehe. See, multi-tasking applies even in the simplest form of oral hygiene. 😀
I do that ‘contemplating’ while brushing my teeth. While staring at the mirror, I think of many things, like what happened the whole day, why this, what if, etc. etc. It’s really funny how my mind wanders as I brush my teeth.