Mindfulness, being present to the moment and its experiences.
These moments can come at the busiest times. Take a breath and enjoy where you are at. Place something in your memories to be kept safe. Reframe your mind so you can better face a challenge. Sort your thoughts so you can take the next step forward. There are so many uses for being mindful, and so many different ways to go about it. It doesn't have to take much of your time to better appreciate what time you have. It could even be something you do already without being aware of what you are doing. But of course that is the point of this mental exercise, being as aware of yourself and your environment as you possibly can.
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| Myself as a bridesmaid for a wonderful friend who is no longer with us. A moment I am glad I was present for. |
Summing up my day with a word is a small way of reflecting on all of the events in the last 24 hours in under five minutes. Today was . . . brilliant, devastating, humdrum. There are a million words to describe this day of your life, twelve million if you make up your own words. Every day matters, and if a small moment defines the entire day, then that is the moment you want to acknowledge. Been a bad day? Acknowledge that too. Experiences and the lessons you get from them are what create you, in all of your imperfect glory.
In Many Words
Journal. Open a blank book, grab a pen, and write down every thought that hits your brain, as it is being thought out. This can be an amazing process of discovery, because you never know where you will take yourself. I have countless pages that start with "This is stupid, I don't know what to say" and end with revelations about why I am really upset, or how small annoyances don't matter. From big picture to micro analysis, this is your brain in free flow.
If typing is your thing, have a go at it! You don't have to post it online. Easy enough to open a document, put your fingers to the keyboard, and try to keep up!
In A Song
This is my favourite. Who doesn't listen to music? Even at times of my life where I am listening to audio books all day instead of music, I still walk into a store and hear something playing on the speakers, get put on hold and hear just the song I need, listen to the street musician and nod my head. Music is everywhere!
In lyrics, you can sometimes find the description to your feelings that you are having difficulty expressing. When I had my first breakup, I was a Linkin Park addict. Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin just seemed to get me.
When my friend, Michelle, was killed three weeks ago, I started listening to music again. I had the radio on scan, searching for a song or lyric that could sort through the mess my head was in. Then I rediscovered Florence + the Machine's album, Ceremonials. It just seemed to express all of the emotions that were churning inside of me. I am still listening to it on repeat, but the same songs take on different meanings as my mind sorts through different aspects of the situation.
What the song is about really doesn't matter. It is the lyrics that stand out and seem to call your attention to them. An unrequited love song can describe your attitude about work with a single line "day after day after long hard day and you still don't see me".
This is a very personal process, and yet one many people can identify with. There are quite a few resources online to help you find just the right song, if listening to your radio or ipod on shuffle isn't doing the trick. I just listed my top two free favourites, because a) I am cheap and b) no point listing crummy sites.
- StereoMood is my favourite way to listen to online radio ever since Pandora closed it's doors to us Canadians. Radio stations playing music to fit an activity or mood. There is even a dishwashing radio station.
- The Experience Project allows you to enter a mood or experience and find songs that other people associate with it. More mood options than Stereo Mood.
In an Image
Art has been around for so long for a reason. It gets you to stop, think, and feel. Great art, anyway. Some art is just pretty, and that is okay too.
When pictures in magazines grab you, cut them out and put them in a journal. When you are needing a reminder to be in the moment, look back at these and find the one that shows what you are thinking or feeling. Remember not to judge your choices. If unicorns make you think of your deceased father, go with the flow of your thought and remember him without questioning too much why.
Deviant Art has taken many of my hours away, but it is also a way to find art on so many subjects. Heartbroken, depressed, joyful. Do a search and see what comes up. Let the artist know they moved you, or made you think.
Take a picture of the world as you see it in this moment. A shadow on the wall, the screaming man who hit your car, the clouds going by. People do this on vacation all the time, but that can be its own trap. If you only remember your time in Germany through the camera, you missed the point of the exercise. Putting away the camera can put you more in the moment sometimes, and if that is what is needed, then do that instead.
In A Breath
The most basic of all mindfulness. So often we get caught up with the stresses of the future that we forget to enjoy where we are at. I am very guilty of this one, but I am trying, and I like to think I am getting better for the trying.
For one minute, stop planning, stop worrying, and treasure the moment you have right now, because you can never get it back.
Breath in. Breath out. Feel your heart beat and watch the world move around you. However, if it is a charging rhino that is doing the moving, it would be prudent to step away first, breathe second.
Enjoy your life. Every frightening, fantastical, phenomenal moment of it. As Michelle once said, in her blog, The Canadian Pun'd, "The world is built on seconds." Make those seconds your own.
I am always looking for more ways to be present in the moment. Got one I haven't mentioned yet? Just let me know!
