You're walking down the street….
You notice your feet, softly pressing against the pavement as you walk down the street. You see a bright Fall-colored leaf slip past your foot and watch as it’s swept away by the wind from a passing car. You linger on your shadow cast by the sun as it sways to the rhythm of your every move. How often are you fully present with life’s subtleties? For many, long to-do lists or darting repetitious thoughts keep us from experiencing them — but making a point to observe the world that swirls around us is a universal offering, readily available if you’re ever longing to calm anxious thoughts.
“Your mind is like a pond, and your thoughts are like the ripples forming in it. If there are lots of ripples and you add one more, it’s quickly lost in chaos as it interacts with the other ripples. The same is true when your mind is full of different thoughts – it is harder to focus on any one thought when it’s competing for space with many others. If a pond is still, however, and you toss in a single pebble, the ripple’s path is clear and easy to see as it moves across the surface of the pond. Just as when you have more stillness in your mind, your thoughts become clearer. And when your thoughts are clearer, your decisions and actions are as well.” -TM.org
Noticing the minutiae in your surroundings will naturally build meditative practices into a busy life. Did you pause to observe the texture of the walls while working from your favorite coffee shop, or note the color of the door hinges as you exited? If you’d like to commit even more to bringing peace and restfulness to your mind, consider setting aside time for intentional (yet-still-simple) meditation sessions:
To do this, start by sitting down on the ground with your legs crossed, or by sitting comfortably in a chair with your feet planted firmly on the floor. Don't cross your legs if they're uncomfortable or you'll be tempted to fidget.
Breathe in slowly through your nose, hold the air in your lungs briefly, then breathe out slowly through your mouth. Imagine you are blowing all of the tension out of each muscle in your body along with each breath.
Look around you and see all the things you wouldn't normally notice every day – the cracks on the wall, the way light plays on dust particles floating through the air.
Feel the sensations in all your limbs as you do this. You can choose to notice any sensations that you like – maybe it's cool air on your legs, the pressure of your feet on the floor, or your blanket underneath you.
It doesn't matter what those sensations are; whether they're pleasant or unpleasant is irrelevant – only focus on the sensations and let them flow through your body.
Your mind will wander. It's normal for your thoughts to latch onto a memory or a random thought about the future. When this happens, simply bring your attention back to your breathing and the sensations you're feeling.
If your mind starts wandering again after being brought gently back from its distractions, bring it back a second time in a different way. If it distracts you a third time, try a third way of bringing yourself back in line. You can do this over and over until your mind wanders no more.
It's important to remember that your mind will wander as long as you keep trying to think about something. The more you try to focus the more likely it is that your mind will wander, because you can't actually control what you're thinking about. The point of this exercise isn't to try and make your mind stop wandering – it's a way of training yourself to notice how quickly your thoughts run away from you and a way of learning how to catch them before they go too far.
I recommend doing this every day for six minutes. Six minutes is enough to make you acutely aware of your thoughts and the way your mind works without taking too much of your time. If you’d like, you can do it twice daily, setting an alarm on your phone to remind yourself in the mornings and evenings; this can help develop your ability to keep a clear mind, and in time, master the beautiful art of having deeper awareness.
