There have been so many beautiful moments to ‘catch’ over the last few days as the sun has been making a most welcome appearance. It’s an exciting time of year, where everything in us is waking up, a great time to be planting seeds, literally, as well as metaphorically. This spring I returned to teach introductory mindfulness with some new groups and what a joyful and rewarding experience this has been. It had been a while and really brought home to me the gift that mindfulness meditation is, along with its potential impact. It reminded me of, the sometimes-immediate benefits, as well as the longer-term, ripple effect, that mindfulness meditation can have on our health and wellbeing.
I thought it might be helpful to reflect on my experience of working with these new groups and how we can apply our practice to daily life in everyday ways, by ‘catching’ ourselves in the moments that make up our lives. Over eight wonderful weekly sessions together we practiced mindfulness meditation and explored our thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensory experiences. We reflected honestly and shared our experiences openly. We felt our feelings, laughed, cried and discovered our common humanity, realising that we were all much more similar than different. We practiced some mindful eating and mindful movement. We learned that our minds are busy, but by practicing meditation, they will gradually begin to settle.
Alongside our growing awareness of ourselves and others, we practiced gratitude, self-compassion and loving kindness for ourselves and all living beings. We discovered that, even though taking our time and moving slowly, we still covered a lot of ground. By examining our habits in terms of which were nourishing or depleting us, we all committed to paying more attention to how we were spending our time. I was struck, and very often moved, by everyday examples that people shared of what they had been noticing between one week and the next. Often, on the face of it, little things, but I see them as ‘little big things’, or even huge things, because, once brought into awareness, they invite potential change, growth, softening.
Some of the benefits that participants shared were so rich and impactful. Examples include, stopping to have breakfast quietly, sitting eating meals slowly and tasting the food, driving slower, improved sleep, enjoying time on holidays better, noticing that we have a choice if we ‘catch’ ourselves in the moment. This ‘catching the moment’ can work in two ways, catching ourselves about to react to a situation, in our usual, habitual way or catching a special moment in our lives and really savouring that moment, as if ‘banking’ it, making a deposit in our long-term memory for our future.
One example of a habit noticed that perhaps we can all identify with, was of feeling annoyance, even intolerance towards, slow drivers or slow-moving vehicles. Habitually, our response might be to get too close to the offending vehicle, to feel a build-up of impatience, frustration, anger as we wait to overtake. But bringing mindfulness to the situation and noticing or catching the moment of annoyance as it arises can bring an awareness of choice. Hang on, we have a choice here. We can either get highly stressed which takes a toll on our wellbeing or we can simply take our time and wait behind the lorry or tractor until we can find a safe place to pass, then breathe, feel our hands on the wheel and overtake without hardly any stress at all.
Conversely, a striking example of a participant catching themselves in a ‘good’ moment, was someone who was about to go sea swimming off a rock but was finding it impossible to get in. Because of the tide, she would have to wait or go to a different beach. Instead of rushing off to another spot, she had the realisation in her own mind that, hang on, “This is a moment in my life”. So, with this awareness, she chose to stay on that rock until the tide changed and had her swim.
Reassured, affirmed and encouraged by this generous group sharing, I was repeatedly reminded that mindfulness meditation really matters, it has meaning and long-lasting impact on people’s everyday lives. Mindfulness meditation can be this grounding, steadying, joyful, lifeforce, providing us with skills we can all learn to help us on our life’s journey. Skills that, once the foundation has been laid, require consistent practice to grow and strengthen, both formally, through meditation, and informally, through how we live our everyday lives. It is pure privilege to be a conduit of these practical yet life-changing skills and practices, and something that I will be forever grateful for. The simple, yet profound, quote from writer Annie Dillard seems fitting here. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
Mindfulness in April
Drop-in mindfulness hour at CECAS, Myross Wood, Leap on Tuesday mornings 10-11am, April 14, and 2h. €12. Beginners, returners and newcomers are always welcome.
A free three-week compassion-based mindfulness programme for family carers will run at Mossie’s in Adrigole, Beara beginning Thursday April 23, 12-3pm.
For more information: phone: 087 2700572 or email: susanoreganmindfulness@gmail.com
www.mindhaven.ie
