This morning you awoke to your blaring alarm clock, rolled out of bed, hit the shower and stumbled off to work. Your first thoughts of the morning probably consist of the jam packed to-do list you created the night before and possibly the left over unease of a riff you got in with your significant other. Day in and day out we find ourselves completely submerged in thought and emotion. So much so that we can’t see what amazing things are right in front of our face. We hide in the cloud of the mind and end up missing what’s most important in life, actually experiencing it!
We all know how powerful the habitual mind is in it’s busy, worried, caught up in all the details state. And that’s all the more reason to realize what opportunity each day can hold if we reconnect with the moment as it unfolds. Here is a simple yet life changing practice you can do at any moment to interject gaps of mindfulness into your day.
The Pause Practice: Simply take three conscious breaths at any moment when you notice you are drowning in thoughts or overwhelmed in emotion. “Pause practice can transform each day of your life. It creates an open doorway to the sacredness of the place in which you find yourself. The vastness, stillness, and magic of the place will dawn upon you, if you let your mind relax and drop for just a few breaths the storyline you are working so hard to maintain. If you pause just long enough, you can reconnect with exactly where you are, with the immediacy of your experience.” (Pema Chodron, Shambhala Sun) Just be where you are! Let the pause practice be like popping a bubble. Let it be just a moment in time, and then go on with your day.
So here is my challenge and yours: Leave gaps. The most important thing to do with each day, each morning, afternoon, and evening is to punctuate the endless script in your head with gaps of being present. These gaps, are like poking holes in the clouds. Many small holes can create one gigantic gap that can envelope your entire life, so that the continuity is no longer the mind’s rambling, but one continual gap of mindfulness.
In an ideal world we could maintain mindfulness, or present living, all the time. Yes, we all lead busy, detailed lives, but we can work toward being more aware of the fabulous life we have! Try the pause practice right now and see how you feel, awaken to your surroundings, or what have you. Let me know in the comments!
Live it up with even more mindfulness exercises here!
