Between the stresses of our jobs, family and community, it can be pretty challenging to set aside time for a daily meditation practice. Instead of setting aside this time, turn your time into a meditative exercise.
Daily activities like washing the dishes and folding the laundry can take on new meaning when done mindfully. Find an activity that must get done on a day to day basis, perhaps we’d even call it a chore. The next time we need to do this, let’s try as best as possible to focus on what it is we are doing, as we are doing it, even if it seems mundane, boring and tedious. See if we can approach this activity as if it were the first time doing it. Let’s take washing dishes as an example. What do the dishes/ soap feel like? What is the sensation of warm water? Noticing and acknowledging sensations, feelings and thoughts when doing any chore is a mindfulness practice. We may also start to notice that we get distracted by thoughts. Let’s simply catch these thoughts, and gently and with compassion, redirect our attention back to our activity.
Practicing mindfulness is a great way to drop in on our thoughts, feelings and bodies. It helps us to better understand who we are as individuals. So let’s turn our chores into something more! Wherever and whatever we are doing, let’s see if we can do it mindfully!
Restartwell 