A few weeks ago my beautiful niece made me a gift.
She decorated a special little stone that she had found .. with three gorgeous little pink hearts (and on the back are my initials).
I have been carrying the little stone in my bag .. and occasionally I find myself touching it or rolling it around in my hand as I hunt around inside the ‘never ending bag’ to find my keys or my phone.
It reminds me .. to be mindful of the present moment .. and it reminds me of LOVE.
Mindfulness is an ancient practice that simply requires us to attend non-judgmentally to the present moment (rather than bouncing around between past, present and future .. the open space-land of non attention).
When we rest our focus in the present moment .. everything seems to slow down, we really ‘see’ what is happening in our life, we can be more open in heart and mind. Mindfulness practices teach us how to simply focus on being present .. to the breath, the movement of our body as we walk, the wind in our hair, the sun on our face .. the sounds around us.
Thich Nhat Hahn, the Zen Buddhist monk has a beautiful practice where he suggests finding and holding a pebble in our hand:
“Dear Buddha,Here is my pebble. I am going to practice with it when things go wrong during the day. Whenever I am angry or upset, I will take the pebble in my hand and breathe deeply. I will do this until I calm down.”
of course you don’t have to include Buddha or anyone else if you don’t wish too .. trust in what feels right for you.
We place our pebble in our pocket and it travels with us wherever we go. At any time during the day, if we find ourselves stressed, angry or upset, we put our hand in our pocket, take hold of the pebble, and remind ourselves to just breathe .. “Breathing in, I notice that I feel stress. Breathing out, I release all stress and holding and invite in ease and calmness”.
I really like the inclusion of some touch awareness in meditation .. carrying my special pebble gives me something solid and ‘at hand’ for my day.
A reminder to be present and of love ..
If you would like to learn more about meditation but can’t make one of our classes .. we have designed our Quiet Mind Meditation E-Course JUST FOR YOU!
The 31 Day Meditation E-Course is based around a daily email with instructions, tips and motivation to start a regular meditation practice. There is also a private blog with online guided meditations and additional articles (if you are interested in learning even more).
Whether you are on holiday, in the snow, at the office or a student .. the E-Course is do-able .. practical, straightforward and powerful!
The 31 Day Quiet Mind Meditation E-Course runs throughout the year – FIND OUT MORE HERE