Sprinkle Your Day with Mindfulness
When we sit in meditation for 30 minutes or so, learning to be with ourselves and our lived experience as each moment unfolds, we are building habits that support our well-being and happiness, and we often glean keen insights into ourselves. But meditation and mindfulness aren’t meant to be relegated to discreet chunks of time, and we don’t need 30 or more minutes to meditate. We can bring meditation and mindfulness into our engaged life with “mini mindful moments”. These are chances to connect with the present moment, giving our nervous system a much-needed rest, and also nurturing a sense of deep connections with others.
Some “Mini Mindful Moments” suggestions:
Mindful Hand-Washing: When we stand at the sink, we can bring our full attention to the sound of the water as it hits the bottom of the basin, the feeling of the water on our skin, the sense of moving our hands back and forth against each other, the smell of the soap…. As we begin to move about in the world a bit more, we’ll need to be doing lots of hand washing, and these can be rich moments of relaxation if we bring our attention to them.
Resonant Breathing: When we take long, deep breaths, perhaps inhaling fully for a count of six and then exhaling fully for a count of eight, the diaphragm travels up and down the spine, massaging the vagus nerve, sending a message to the fear center of the brain that "everything is okay". We can bring our full attention to what it feels like to breathe this deeply, thereby connecting ourselves with the present moment and integrating mind and body, all of which relax our nervous system.
Hands, Feet and Seat: If we spend a lot of time sitting, it can be helpful to pause several times in the day and bring our attention to what it feels like to have our feet on the floor, really sensing into the sense of contact with the floor beneath our feet. Then we do this with our seat in the chair, noticing the support of what is beneath us, resting with the sensation of being held, and held up, by the chair or stool. Lastly, we bring attention into the hands, wherever they are resting, noticing temperature, points of contact and any other sensations that are available. All of this helps to “ground” us in the present moment, and bring our mind and body both into the present moment.
Starting and Ending with Sounds: Lastly, you can experiment with taking a few minutes at the start and end of the day to tune in to the sounds around you. If you’ve got access to an outdoor space, you might want to consider standing outside (maybe even barefoot!) and listening to the sounds in the neighborhood - the birds, the traffic, the neighbors, the wind in the trees, the sirens…. If outdoor space isn’t an option, sitting by a window works well, too. You might begin to notice that the sense of boundary between you and the rest of the world blurs a bit, and that you are deeply connected with what’s around you, part of something bigger, and that this something bigger is part of you.
Please Donate Now
In these challenging times, your support is more important than ever. As a nonprofit, we can’t cancel our needs to fundraise. We need your donations to continue offering meditation sessions.CMP is a licensed charity in the state of CT as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Checks can be mailed to Community Mindfulness Project, P.O. Box 1713, New Canaan, CT 06840. Credit cards are accepted at www.CommunityMindfulnessProject.org. Thank you!
Have You Tried a Guided Meditation Session On-Line?
CMP has created a library of guided meditations that are available on our website. Our guided meditations have no preamble or discussion. They begin and end with the sound of a chime. If you aren’t ready to go directly to a guided meditation, you can also start with the audio discussions on our site. They provide an explanation of a practice. We encourage you to try one today!
