Be Mindful: Pay Attention

 

EVERY MINUTE COUNTS. EVERY MINUTE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE CALM, PEACE OR FUN

...NO MATTER WHAT YOU'RE DOING, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE...

The key is to be mindful :

If there is a single secret to one-minute mindfulness, it is this: live the next sixty seconds as if your whole life depended on them , with a sense of urgency and excitement, or as if you had just arrived in a foreign land where there is nothing expected or taken for granted...

Here are five one-minute activities that you can practice every day to find the extraordinary in the ordinary:

1. Consider one small act of kindness you can do for someone.  For instance, in a minute, you can send a sweet email or give a compliment. If you don’t see anyone that day, be kind to yourself. It also helps to take a minute and remember a kind gesture from someone else that really made a difference in your life.

2. Bring a dose of creativity to your workday.  Work no doubt takes up a large portion of our days. And no doubt the tasks can quickly become tedious. Fortunately, being mindful can help you tap into a deeper sense of purpose and turn on the lamp of creativity. Strive to do one small creative thing at work or saying an affirmation, such as “The treasure of creativity is available to me at all times,” or “I let go of expectation and let creativity come to me.”

3. Find pleasantness at work.  This is one of the most profound practices. Pleasantness is an anchor that helps us centre by locating the peace that is ever-present, even when it is hidden. You can find pleasantness in a song, a sound, a scent or a blade of grass. All you have to do is scan your surroundings. You can also take one of your favourite objects to work ~ such as a photo of your loved ones ~ or having something portable with you at all times.

4. Calm anxious thoughts with a pebble.  An anxious mind can be compared to a raging river. It’s possible to find a safe place underneath the turbulent waves and you can do this by repeating a neutral word. Choose a word that doesn’t bring up any memories, associations or feelings, like the word one, peace, calm, neutral. These words are like 'pebbles' that can help you distance yourslelf from the turbulence and settle you into the deep, still water, where you can see all around clearly. When other thoughts pop up, just view them as shiny fish swimming past.

5. Gaze at the sky and moon. Gazing at the sky and moon allows us to embrace wholeness and fosters pure awareness.  As you start gazing, notice your breath and if any tension or emotions are present. Then look out to the vast sky, paying attention, moment to moment. You also can think of a specific problem or challenge you’ve been having and release it to the spaciousness of the sky as you gaze. Whatever your challenge, let it be part of the big perspective and the big wisdom that exist in nature, free from the small you that holds on to it.

Don’t let the minutes whiz by. Open your eyes, and notice the beauty surrounding you.

Just one minute can make a difference in your days.

{Source: Psych Central}

 

 Mindfulness can be summed up in two words:  "pay attention".

Once you notice what you’re doing, you have the power to change it.


The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.

Jon Kabat-Zinn






Timely Wisdom