Moment-to-Moment Attention in Daily Life

[Photo from Stock_xchng – Road by Sopeluk [id 1051286]

There are many simple ways that you can start to bring Mindfulness into your daily life.

I have mentioned previously one of my favourite techniques, as practiced by Tibetan monks, to pause for a moment of mindfulness each and every time you walk through a doorway. It really is a simple and beautiful practice, each time you are about the walk through a door, pause, take a moment, breathe and breathe out. Bring yourself fully into the moment. Then cross the threshold and walk on.

In many retreats and buddhist centers there will be mindfulness bells to remind everyone to slow down and be aware of the present moment (see previous entry on Peace Pulse). And when you hear the gong you just stop what you are doing and practice this moment of mindfulness so that you can more fully experience the experience.

I have listed below a couple of my favourite rituals taken from Lama Surya Das's book 'Awakening to the Sacred Within'. Try these yourself tomorrow.. or a day soon.

1. Mindful Waking Up : The dawning of each new days is a fabulous opportunity for awakening in a sacred way. We can thereby intentionally start our new day in a more mindful fashion. So we wake up, get settled in the moment, and take three slow mindful breaths. Inhale...Exhale...One. Inhale...Exhale...Two. Inhale...Exhale...Three. THEN Breathe out! Say Aaaaah!

We let go of the stale air from the night, let go of the mist from the night's dreams... and greet the morning with a giant outbreath (an ancient Tibetan practice) before getting up.

2. Mindful Arriving : Whenever you arrive at a destination (shop, school, work) let yourself fully arrive. Stop. Pause. Take three breaths. Pay Attention. Explore the moment before moving forward. Be awake and aware. Notice where you are, notice what is around you. Understand that you hav arrived and move forward.

3. Mindful Waiting : An excellent exercise! and so many opportunities each and every day to practice. When waiting in line.. think movies, train station, lunch spot, photocopier... don't just distract yourself to avoid feeling bored or annoyed. Instead use this brilliant piece of time to create a 'rich and sacred moment of mindfulness'. Breathe three or seven times, and refresh yourself through the magic power of awareness. Just be for a moment.. and I promise the line will move faster!

4. Mindful Eating : Mindfulness of eating is an ancient spiritual practice. When I lived in Sydney I did some massage training and as part of our awareness in understanding the work our bodies/digestive system had to do to break down just a mouthful of brown rice ~ we had to take big mouthful of uncooked brown rice and chew and chew until it liquified (at which point we could swallow). What an effort this took! But there was a gift inherent in the practice as well... never had we experienced such sensory input from a mouthful of food.. the textures, the changing nature of the flavour, the richness of this little mouthful.

The practice helped us understand how little attention we give to our eating. So try to spend at least one mouthful, one meal, or one occassion each day this week being fully mindful of eating. Take a mouthful and put down your food and cutlery. Eat. Smile. Take an exceptional amount of time getting to know the food in your mouth. Be grateful for the people, the natural forces, the miracle of food and eating. By opening up to it, we truly experience the moment.

5. Mindful Homecoming : My dad told me once that he would sit in the car a block or two from our home each night, often for only a few minutes; but in order to leave behind the 'work' day, allowing him to truly 'arrive home'. He was practicing Mindful Homecoming. When you arrive home next...stand in front of your door and take a moment to fully appreciate the moment of your arrival. Be aware of the closing of the circle of your day. Breath in and out three times. Notice the fresh air around you, the garden, the warm home lights. Just be there for a moment and then open the door and step inside.

Our home is our temple; honour your arrival at your temple and enter your sacred domain (leaving the outside world outside). Come home to yourself.. come home to you family and rest.

Please make a note and try each of these practices this week... I would welcome your thoughts.

Notice Doorways

I was talking with a girlfriend on the weekend.. she was commenting how lovely meditation is; but how hard it is to actually remember to do! So many people ask me how to keep their practice going, how to establish a pattern of behaviour that includes a regular daily meditation practice. I am yet to find the easy answers (after all this is a 'practice') .. but when asked I have a toolkit of three common techniques that I have used in the past:

1. Notice doorways.
By stopping and noticing each time you walk through a doorway - stop, balance yourself (internally and externally), notice your feet and how well 'planted' you are to the earth at this point in time, find your breath, follow one or two breath cycles with all the attention you can muster.

Acknowledge that you are moving from one place to another.. moving from one task to another.. one thought to another... Acknowledge to yourself "I am now walking through this doorway". Acknowledge that you intend to bring all your attention to the new situation just through this doorway. Smile. Step through. Engage in the moment.

A nice 'spot' meditation that brings present moment awareness to your conscious mind.

2. Peace Pulse.
Back in an earlier blog (April, 08) I mentioned how much I loved finding and using the Peace Pulse website. Here you sign up and each time you are on-line... each hour... you will receive a gentle gong or chime to mark the start and end of one minute. This is a reminder to stop, take a minute and be silent/meditate/give thanks etc. Another spot meditation.

Please take a moment to have a look at http://www.gaiasoft.com/peacepulse.nsf

3. Meditation bracelet or mala.
Years ago I worked with a very progressive organisation who often brought out these bright yellow elasticband bracelets : these were used for training staff to address behavioural changes. The idea was that making a change to your behaviour required consistent focus and effort - and if you snapped the bracelet (giving yourself a nice little masochistic sting!) at the moment you realised you had exhibited the 'incorrect' behaviour (or thought pattern) then you were re-learning how often (and gradually how infrequently) your were falling into old patterns of behaviour (like thinking a particular negative thoughts, or avoiding making that sales call).

Quite often there were staff moving around the office, or in a meeting, or in the lunch room, snapping their yellow bracelets. I have a couple of 'meditation' bracelets (including the traditional 'mala bead' kind) and I know when I wear them and see them on my wrist, then I am reminded of my commitment and intention to meditate. It really does work...

Peace Pulse

This is a fantastic tool to help facilitate those "short meditations". I have installed this link on all my computers (work and home) and use it regularly.

PeacePulse is amazingly simple and perfect.. a free service that plays a single chime on your computer (when logged on to the service), one chime each hour to remind you to take a moment for yourself.

"It is so easy to get caught up in the day's activities and forget to take time out each hour. This is a very useful practical reminder. PeacePulse is inspired by, supports and builds on just-a-minute – taking a minute of silence to take Pressure Off and turn personal Power On. Our vision for PeacePulse is of millions of people with different beliefs, mindsets and attitudes choosing to share silence, hourly, around the world."

Please take a moment to have a look at http://www.gaiasoft.com/peacepulse.nsf

Seconds to Serenity

Gosh I was busy this week, actually make that frantic!... the type of day(s) where you arrive, have that first coffee and the next milestone is heading out the door home at the end of the day... and it feels like you have been at your desk three hours.

It's just as well that most days I find that I thrive on all the multi-tasking and juggling, but I also have a 'secret weapon'..

I know that in the midst of the busiest and most pressured schedule... I will continue to carve out small moments of bliss : 'short meditations' that give me regular shots of stillness and silence. I know that I will get much more done, and much more effectively and professionally, if I continue to include as many 'short meditation' that I can in my day - to help clear out the mental clutter. This is a perfect antidote to the revving up of a stressful day, one that wont take away my drive but gives my focus and intention much more precision and impact.

Perfect before that difficult meeting... guaranteed to calm me before any presentation... and without a doubt, gives me balance before departing one world (corporate) for my other world (mother).

A two or five minute respite can stop the spinning wheels, allow us to step back a moment and see the path ahead more clearly.

Short Moment Meditation instruction [Pause as long as you find comfortable and possible beween each step but aim for at least 30 seconds.. and practice as often as you can]:

To start:
* Turn off the phones, close the door, put out the 'do not disturb' sign.. no point relaxing and then have someone barge in
* Settle into a relaxed position in a chair or on the floor
* Close your eyes

Now:
* Notice how your body weight settles into the chair/floor
* Notice the ease and freshness of your in-breath .. and the release of the out-breath
* Notice how your feet, arms and shoulders gently release their tension as you allow them to really let go.. can you release them a little further on the next out-breath?
* Notice the feel of your clothes against your skin
* Notice the air around your body, the temperature, the movement
* Notice the quiet and the sounds around you
* Notice the rise and fall of your belly
* Notice the sensation of being still
* Notice the amount of life and energy in your body as you find stillness
* Notice the wonderful sense of release and rest you feel now
* Notice your own rhythm of breath
* Notice how relaxed and good you feel right now

Brilliant! Please enjoy....