What Would a Day of Mindfulness be Like?
A day of mindfulness could be any day in your life. The difference to any of your other days is that you would be fully present in everything that you do.
So that would be a challenge! It would be like a young child who greets each day as it really is – completely new! As Maya Angelou said:
‘This is a wonderful day.
I’ve never seen this one before.’
- You may already incorporate a little bit of mindfulness into your day already. You can be mindful when you notice how stressed you’re feeling. Sit back and soften your posture.
- You can be mindful when you’re drinking your cup of tea or coffee. Allow yourself some quiet moments of enjoyment.
- At the end of your day you can bring your awareness to how you are feeling physically and emotionally.
- Or you might simply make a point of standing outside to view the sky or your garden for a moment of mindful appreciation.
Dipping into mindfulness like this can help you experience a little more calm. It can help you feel more balanced and focused on what you’re doing, however challenging it is. It’s a great way to experience life more fully and remain calm across your days.
Give Mindfulness a go
A day of mindfulness would be when you bring your full presence to everything. When you attempt to do this, you quickly realise how much of the day humans are on auto-pilot and how challenging it can be to stay present without resorting to reactive responses.
The most relaxing way to explore your mindfulness in this way could be to choose a day when you are not doing your usual work. On a day off, you might decide to go for a long countryside walk, a canal-boat ride, or a Mindfulness Retreat Day. With any of these choices, your intention is what will create the magic of mindfulness.
So whatever you’re doing – walking, eating, zen doodling or simply sitting; your decision is to be present and participate fully in what you’re doing.
How does this differ from a non-mindful approach? Well that’s when you your mind is full of other thoughts, sometimes intrusive, worrying, anxious, sad.
It’s when you’ve walked through fields and trees, and not noticed any of the beauty or felt any of the connection to nature.
It’s when you haven’t been aware of all the smells from the earth, grass or wild flowers.
It can still feel relaxing to have a day off work and do something you enjoy. Yet you might notice that even then, your mind has kept you in a state of anxiety, and quite frequently, you’ve kept yourself busy!
You’ve held on to old habits, so a full day of mindfulness means you’re letting go of life on auto-pilot.
More aliveness
Each time you experience mindfulness, it can feel as though you are living your life more fully, in more colour, with more aliveness.
Even the simplest of things, like eating a meal or sitting on a chair quietly for 5 minutes can feel as though you are experiencing it for the first time! Yet you might also experience impatience, a bad temper or boredom.
You’ve decided to sit mindfully for a few moments, yet you might suddenly find yourself getting caught in random negative thoughts about your life, your relationships, your work.
All of that is part of the experience of being mindful. Be present with all of it, and notice how you can guide your mind to focus on the present moment again, and these thoughts and feelings eventually dissipate.
Again and again you might be bombarded with a range of thoughts and feelings, many of them negative. And yet, in-between all this, you may well experience calm and contentment. It can feel like opening up spaciousness inside you, and you might find yourself approaching everything heart-first rather than mind-first.
Mindfulness Days
If you are curious to give it a go, Place of Serenity sometimes offers a Mindfulness Retreat Day and a Mindful Morning.
Even if you can’t take time out for a full Mindfulness Retreat Day or Morning, I’d love to hear if you have tried a day of mindfulness for yourself!
Or how about looking into a Mindfulness Course to learn how to build up the skill of mindfulness in your life? This can give you specific weekly times of calm and replenishment.
Whatever you choose, may mindfulness be part of your life!
Yvette Jane – Mindfulness & Meditation Guide
You might also like to read:
Let Go of Negative Thoughts with Mindful Meditation
