Hear and Now

When we share mindfulness with young people we often give them each a strawberry and ask them to look at it, to touch it, to smell it, …. and, before inviting them to taste it, we invite them to listen to it.  They look at us like we’re mad.  They skeptically raise the strawberry to their ears and give it a gentle squeeze….. and then their eyes POP open with delight as they realize that strawberries can make sounds! 

Life offers us rich, multi-layered, surprising experiences. We need only pay attention.

Sounds can serve as effective anchors in the present moment. In traditional mindfulness of sounds practice, we sit quietly and open to the sounds in and around us, letting them land on us like rain drops, observing their beginnings, middles and ends.

And we can bring this practice into engaged life. As we walk in the snow we can tune in to the crunch underfoot, the swish of fabric of the coat, the sound of our exhalation, a squirrel’s chatter, a passing car. A walk from point A to point B becomes an acoustic adventure.

Tubs are an incredible place to explore sound, if you have one. You can scooch yourself down so that your ears drop below the water line. How different the world sounds! The breath, footsteps elsewhere in the home, the occasional drip from the faucet. No tub? Showers are great too! The sound of the shampoo bottle opening and snapping shut, suds in the hair, water leaving the pipes, hitting the floor….

Wonderment, joy, adventure are here in each moment if we pay attention. And each time we point ourselves to the present moment we rewire the brain pay attention to what is real in the here and now vs. the "maybes" of the mind.

Hoping that you will join us this week in person, by conference call or by Zoom, or virtually via the many recorded meditations on the website. Click here to see our full schedule.

Wishing you peace, joy and wonder in this moment and always,

Your CMP family