The Magic of Mindfulness
This is my favorite time of year, just as summer bleeds into fall. The air is warm, but you can begin to smell the earthiness of leaves ready to fall. There are still a few flowers hanging on before the freeze sets in, splashing the sidewalks with color on my evening strolls with my son.
During a recent evening stroll I had the wherewithal to pause and notice my son, who was closely inspecting a yellow flower, eyes wide with wonder.
I just stared at him, captivated by his own rapt attention, curiosity and appreciation of nature.
My son, Sage, in moment of wonder.
GUYS, IT WAS MAGNIFICENT.
I know, I know, I sound like every other Mom obsessed with her kid.
But the reason why it was a magical moment is not because my kid is the cutest kid out there (although he might be); it was magical because I was having a fully-present, mindful moment.
Had I not chosen to stop and be fully present, I would have continued pushing my son’s stroller, immersed in my phone no doubt (the worst automatic behavior trap I find myself in lately), almost literally blind to the truly beautiful world around me.
It’s a little bit scary how little of our awake time we are actually AWAKE. Scientists estimate that about 80% of our behavior is automatic.
Of course, automatic behavior is a necessity for daily functioning (if we had to relearn how to program the coffee maker everyday our days would be MUCH less efficient).
But on the other hand, it can get easy to fall into the trap of just “going through the motions.” Mindfulness is one way to get out of the trap of the automatic.
Mindfulness gets hyped up all the time because of all of it’s proven benefits for your mental health, but I think sometimes it gets over-complicated. Mindfulness is simply the art of NOTICING. Of being FULLY in all your 5 senses to take in what is going on RIGHT NOW.
Sounds simple right? It actually really is when we remember to do it.
For example, if I told you to really focus in on the sensation of your butt touching the chair, or the sensation of your feet in your socks pressing into the ground right now, YOU ARE DOING MINDFULNESS.
Woo, good job.
If focusing on the feeling of your feet touching your socks feels a little, umm, strange, don’t worry, there are much more pleasant ways to practice mindfulness.
Here’s another more pleasant example:
sit down for 5 minutes with your morning coffee, with no other distractions.
Take a moment to first register the feel of the mug in your hands- the weight of it and warmth emanating through.
Then notice the smell of the coffee.
Then take a sip of coffee and appreciate the taste, noticing if there are multiple bursts of flavor, or nuances in the flavor.
Next, notice very specific visual details of the environment around you.
There you have it—a perfect mindful moment.
I try to challenge myself to have a few “mindful moments” a day. There’s a few reasons for this:
There is tons of research linking daily mindfulness practice to decreased feelings of stress and increased feelings of well-being.
Mindfulness is a keystone habit for cultivating deep JOY in your life, which is a topic I’ll be bending your ear about in future posts.
I have a confession to make, I have a terrible memory when it comes to my day to day. Any time I register a moment of happiness, I try to plug into all 5 senses (what do I see, smell, taste, hear, or feel) simply because this helps me encode the memory so I won’t forget.
I REALLY didn’t want to forget the look of wonder on my son’s face as he simply looked at flowers. It’s one of those mundane but beautiful and humbling moments that makes you look at the world with a bit of childlike wonder. I wanted to bottle it the best I could.
What mundane yet magical moments might you be missing in your day to day life?
Practice a bit of mindfulness, and you’ll soon find out.
With Love,
Allison