What if you could grow your ability to notice when you’re having a moment of insight, while you went about your everyday chores?
Lately I’ve spent a lot of time discussing the importance of being able to notice when we’re receiving a sense/thought/idea/intuition, before even moving forward with what to do with said intuition. Sure, what you do with an insight seems like the more exciting aspect of a gift of sight/intuition than simply noticing you’re having that moment in the first place.
This skill of noticing thoughts and ideas the moment they arise is as truly fundamental to self-awareness (and therefore any kind of self-development) as it is to spiritual development. So it’s worth really making sure that we all find ways that work for us, to enhance the skill of noticing that first glimmer.
After all, the better tuned in you are into when you’re having a glimmer of insight, the more frequently you’ll find yourself having these insights. Partly because you won’t be dismissing them (as discussed in recent posts Part 1 and Part 2). And partly because you’ll be paying attention to increasingly more of those glimmers instead of missing them all entirely.
This post will walk you through a really simple mindfulness tool you can use to enhance your skill at noticing your glimmers of insight. Mindfulness is the practice of observing whatever is happening right now. That’s it.
Today’s tool is the use of mindfulness while you go about your day to day. This is a tool you can use during meditation, but I recognize not everyone reading this may be in a place of wanting to meditate. So here’s a tool for you that garners all the same benefits of sitting in mindful meditation while doing something in your day that you’d be doing anyway. If you’re a TL;DR type, go to the TL;DR section.
Where I learned about mindfulness practices
I am not being compensated to share these.
Mindfulness is a common practice used in concentrative meditation in particular, which I learned about in the references included in the post on starting meditation.
Mindfulness – that ability to simply observe in the present – is also the groundwork for living a life in which you’re better equipped to be in your power, instead of being blown from spin cycle to spin cycle. Mindfulness allows the opportunity to increase your intelligence, because you learn how to observe and make new connections without putting up the same lenses or stories you’ve become accustomed to applying in your life that may be stifling you instead of protecting or otherwise serving you. There is lots of information out there on mindfulness meditation, its benefits, and mindfulness practices, so I encourage you to look further into that if it intrigues you.
- I have participated in a silent mindfulness retreat (by the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto) that included various forms of mindfulness, including mindful meditation, mindful eating and mindful movement. Although the facility in which the retreat was held left much to be desired, the facilitation of the retreat itself was well executed.
- I have also participated in numerous meditation classes that included a specific mindfulness component. Additionally, all meditation incorporates an aspect of mindfulness and meditation permeates my everyday life.
- Working with an amazing nutritionist in Toronto (Kyle Byron), I learned an approach to appetite awareness and how to incorporate it into my daily nutrition and fat loss/strength gain goals. This appetite awareness is a form of mindfulness.
How to practice mindfulness in your day to day without sitting to meditate
Option 1: Chores
- Pick any chore at all that you’re doing today.
- As you set about to do the chore, bring your full attention to exactly what you’re doing.
- For example, let’s say you’re going to gather the garbage and take it out.
- Notice the ground under your feet as you walk toward the garbage. Only focus on how you physically feel in this moment. No thinking ahead about what you’re going to do after you take the garbage out. Just right now, what are you physically doing, and how does it feel?
- Notice how it feels to pick up the garbage bag, to tie it up. What do you see? What do you smell (this is more fun if you’re cooking instead of doing garbage, but just roll with it)?
- How does the garbage bag feel in your hand as you walk toward your door? What does it look like to reach for the door handle? How does it feel as you pull on the weight of the door to open it? What do you see outside the door as you walk out?
- Continue to focus your entire attention to what you are feeling, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, as you go about your chore, for the full chore.
Option 2: Eating/Drinking
- Pick any meal, snack or beverage you’re having at some point in your day.
- As you eat or drink, give your full attention to your experience of eating or drinking.
- For example, let’s say you’re eating a sandwich.
- Before you start eating, notice what the sandwich looks like. Really notice those details of colour, texture. How does it smell? How do you feel as you look at it? Is your stomach growling?
- Now as you pick up the sandwich, notice how the bread/wrap/paper wrapping feels in your hands. Notice its weight.
- As you bite into the sandwich, how does it feel in your mouth? How does it taste? What are the textures? How does the paper wrapper sound? How does it sound as you take that first bite?
- For the remainder of the meal/snack/beverage, continue to focus your full attention to the experience of eating/drinking.
Remember!
If you find your attention has wandered and you’re back in your head, that’s GREAT! That’s mindfulness right there, that you’ve noticed you’ve left the present moment and retreated to your head.
Simply return your full attention to the task you’re doing.
It might feel as if it takes a great deal of effort initially. That’s okay! Start small with short, simple tasks or snacks/beverages.
TL;DR
Grow your ability to notice when you’re having a glimmer of insight, while going about your everyday chores or meals.
Option 1: Chores
- Pick any chore at all that you’re doing today.
- As you set about to do the chore, bring your full attention to exactly what you’re doing for every single moment of the task.
- If you get distracted or notice you’re thinking about something else, just bring your attention back to exactly what you’re experiencing as you go about your chore.
- Continue until the chore is complete.
Option 2: Eating/Drinking
- Pick any meal, snack or beverage you’re having at some point in your day.
- As you eat or drink, give your full attention to your experience of eating or drinking for every single moment of the meal/snack/beverage.
- If you get distracted or notice you’re thinking about something else, just bring your attention back to exactly what you’re experiencing as you eat or drink.
- Continue until the meal/snack/beverage is complete.
Remember!
- If you find your attention has wandered and you’re back in your head, that’s GREAT! That’s mindfulness right there, that you’ve noticed you’ve left the present moment and retreated to your head.
- Simply return your full attention to the task you’re doing.
- It might feel as if it takes a great deal of effort initially. That’s okay! Start small with short, simple tasks or snacks/beverages.