Mindfulness in Everyday Life
by Patricia Broersma
When we arrive
back home after a mountaintop experience, often we are required to deal with
the maddening routines of life. Laundry has to be done, dishes have to be
washed, professional work needs our attention, lawns have to be mowed, pets
need to be cared for, and our families need our attention; all of these aspects
of our lives may have paled to insignificance for a time. We may feel intolerably
hypersensitive and irritable about what we previously regarded as a simple,
even reassuring, routine.
At the same time
we may feel a sense of joy and expansion from our discoveries - especially if
we can anchor our new awareness by finding ways to honor the details of daily
life within the broader context of our larger lives. Instead of feeling the
glow of our adventures fade as time goes by, we can find ways for that
sensation to permanently benefit our daily lives. Instead of wishing we were back
on the mountaintop or indulging our irritability about what we would like to
change from our new perspective, we can carry forward the gifts of our journey
and integrate them into our daily lives.
One way to do this
is by practicing mindfulness during our ordinary tasks. With mindfulness a
person promotes intentional awareness of his or her thoughts and actions in the
present moment, without attaching any judgment to those thoughts. Although this
practice was initially associated with Buddhism and sitting meditation, many
Western psychotherapists, as well as several hundred hospitals, have adopted it
for its healing benefits. In addition, a number of research studies funded by
the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine are currently focusing on the benefits of mindfulness.
The traditional
practice of mindfulness meditation is to focus on your breath, following it in
and out. On the in-breath, you can imagine energy moving up your back and above
your head. On the out-breath, the energy moves down the front of your body to
your belly. Focusing on the breath's circular pattern becomes like an anchoring
tether bringing you back to the present moment.
By residing in the
present moment, you begin to notice interesting things about both the inner and
outer aspects of reality. Thoughts will interrupt your focus on the breath -
the ride that morning, your horse's willingness to move through previous
hesitation past a large rock, the shopping trip planned for later in the day,
an upsetting conversation with the boss, sorrow over a friend's illness, or
plans for next week or next year. The mind continually chatters with commentary
or judgment. Before long, this commentary can spread a fog over the gifts from
the time spent in the realm of amplified power, compromising our sense of its
power and promise. We can end up with only fond memories and some good stories
to tell of bygone times.
However, by
noticing these habits of the mind, we gain the ability to decide whether those
thoughts have value. We begin to notice that the intruding thoughts have no
particular value or substance. They are just thoughts. We can set them aside
for a time as we go back to focusing on the breath. In doing so, we realize
that the thoughts are not concrete reality. We become free to observe our own
lives without getting caught up in the commentary. Even better, we become much
more acquainted with ourselves. Mindfulness is a wonderful way to become a good
friend to our own selves.
As we more closely
observe inner reality, we find that happiness is not a quality brought about by
changes in outer circumstances. Instead it is the product of releasing an
attachment to a particular thought about an unpleasant feeling or situation.
Many people find
that sitting meditation does not suit their active lifestyles. In fact,
mindfulness can be practiced anytime and anywhere. It's an especially
interesting way to make valuable time out of standing in a line or waiting for
an appointment. Any activity can become the focus of mindfulness practice. A
good place to start is by walking and focusing on each step in minute detail.
Walking down the aisleway, you can slow your pace and notice how the right
foot goes forward, the leg swings from the hip, the heel touches the ground,
then the rest of your foot touches the ground as your weight shifts forward
onto the right foot. Then the toes bend, the hip continues to extend, and your
weight moves off the right foot. After a few steps of focusing on the right
foot, shift to the left foot, noting each detail as you slow the pace. Then
after a few steps, focus on each foot, moving your attention back and forth as
each foot contacts the ground. Speed up the pace and then slow it down. Other
thoughts will interrupt your focus, and it is important to avoid chastising
yourself for those interruptions. Simply set them aside and return your focus
to walking. Doing this for five minutes now and then throughout your day can
significantly incorporate mindfulness processes into your day.
Once you feel some
sense of how to do a simple walking mindfulness exercise, it helps to connect
specific words to each step. Again, start doing this by slowing your pace, and
as you take each of three steps, mentally say to yourself, "Yes, yes, yes."
Then with each of the next three steps, say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
As extraneous thoughts arise, ask them to step aside while you focus for those
few minutes on your walking and your words. Now the fun begins. You can take
this practice to your daily routine.
Perfection is not
expected. This activity is just something to practice regularly for a set
period such as five to ten minutes. As your mind wanders and other thoughts
intrude, it is enough to notice this without scolding yourself, and immediately
return to the practice of alternating, "Yes, yes, yes" and "Thank you, thank
you, thank you." It will be easier on some days than others, but the practice
is what is important. The practice is a meaningful way to befriend yourself, to
give the same consideration to yourself that you give to others. You will find
that you get intimately acquainted with yourself by simply noticing the
thoughts preoccupying your mind every day. As you notice these thoughts, for
this set period you choose to set them aside for the opportunity to focus
mindfully during your tasks. You begin to create a new subtext for your outer
life. Instead of allowing this subtext to be driven by essentially fearful or
negative thoughts, you can begin to anchor your life in positive thoughts. You
find that you have a choice. And the easiest way to start is through simple,
routine tasks, so that they no longer are peripheral to the more important,
dramatic times of our lives. They become meaningful by giving us practice in
making even our daily work into an opportunity for something new in our lives.
Molly DePrekel and
Tanya Welsch have taught mindfulness for years in their animal-assisted therapy
called Minnesota Linking Individuals, Nature, and Critters. They find that, for
their students, learning mindfulness begins at the barn in the process of
learning to work around the horses. The procedures for placing the grooming
buckets in a certain location and for grooming and tacking up the horses all
become opportunities for practicing mindfulness, even though they are not
labeled as such. When mindfulness is lost, for instance, in the daily feeding
and stall-cleaning routines, the horses often become reminders of mindfulness
with a stamping foot, a nicker, or a kick to the side of the stall. "Pay
attention," they seem to be saying. Come back to the here and now. Be present.
When you practice
mindfulness during routine daily matters, you are then free to choose how to
incorporate helpful changes into your thinking and daily living. The gleanings
of your mythic journey give fertile new directions for your daily life. You
find ways to move away from past habits into something new. Positive change
becomes more possible.
Try This: Walking into Mindfulness
Mindfulness does
not need to address dramatic incidents to claim its power to enable us to live
richer lives. It is in the quiet moments, the ordinary activities of our days,
that mindfulness enables us to do the extraordinary, step by daily step. It
frees us from our habitual ways of being and doing in the world, so that we can
pave new pathways, seeded by the gifts from the adventures of our lives. This activity
can help make mindfulness a part of your daily life by asking you to commit to
twenty-one days of practice. If you perform any particular activity for
twenty-one days, you have a good chance of setting a new habit into your body,
without conscious effort.
Goals
- Begin to experience the benefits of
mindfulness.
- Bring more awareness and energy to
daily routines.
- Experience the joy that emerges when
mind chatter is quieted.
Time: Five minutes
a day for twenty-one days
Preparation and Equipment
None
****
Choose a way to
practice mindfulness for the next twenty-one days. You can walk or do some
other routine activity mindfully.
Set aside any
thoughts that intrude upon those five minutes of mindfulness. The task is
simply to empty your mind of everything except your focus on your chosen
activity and the words that go with it. As thoughts carry your mind in other
directions, simply set them aside and return to your original focus until the
five-minute period has passed. Even if you succeeded in being mindful for only
a few seconds, that is enough for that day; it is an accomplishment.
Regular patterns
for both the body and mind are helpful. For example, if you choose to walk
mindfully, mentally say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you" with one set of
three steps, and then switch to saying, "Yes, yes, yes" for the next three
steps. You may want to vary the speed of the walking by going faster for a few
paces and then slower.
For each of the
next twenty days, take at least five minutes to practice mindfulness in the
same way as on the first day. You can vary the details of the activity you've
chosen, but make the activity the same each day. If you miss a day in the
twenty-one days, then start the counting over so that you do twenty-one
consecutive days.
It is usually a
good idea not to practice at the end of the day, because the practice often
tends to energize and awaken you, making it difficult to sleep easily.
Once the
twenty-one days have passed, decide for yourself how often you wish to practice
mindfulness - daily, weekly, or whatever works for you. Make a mental note to
use mindfulness more often when under stress, because an upsurge in mind
chatter often accompanies such times, which can be exhausting. Practicing
mindfulness allows the mind to relax and often find new, more effective
approaches to a situation.
Practicing
mindfulness allows you to return to yourself so that your innate power emerges
for taking on the artful orchestration of your life in all its complexity.
Mindfulness allows you to stay present to the mythic journey that encompasses
your daily life.
 This article is reprinted from the book:
Riding
into Your Mythic Life
by Patricia Broersma. ©2007/2008
Reprinted with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com
or 800/972-6657 ext. 52.
For More Info or to Order this Book.
About the Author
A certified therapeutic riding instructor, Patricia Broersma
has founded and directed therapeutic riding programs in San
Antonio, Texas, and Ashland, Oregon.
She has been a certified instructor with North American Riding for the
Handicapped (NAHRA) since 1977. She is currently president of the Equine
Facilitated Mental Health Association. She lives in Ashland, Oregon.
Her website is www.trishbroersma.com.
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