Because so many of the people I see experience debilitating anxiety, no matter what else complicates their lives, I have been interested in increasing the options for relaxation that I have available for patients.
Jon Kabat-Zinn has written several clear and simple books about mindfulness and meditation, which I like. Here is a YouTube example of a mindfulness exercise narrated by him. And although I like his work and he seems like a wonderful human being, as one comment on another YouTube video of him said, "I don't think it's bad if it gets you excited about the message, but after the excitement has passed, you're left with nothing but the application of that message, because you can't do anything with the messenger but to worship him. Which is pretty useless to begin with." In my experience, the most difficult part of mindfulness is actually practicing it.
Here is a posting of several everyday, ordinary mindfulness practices that I am going to try this week:
- Mind your feet while you’re grocery shopping. (my yoga teacher)
- Mind your chair while you’re typing.
- When going through a door, think ‘I am I’ (Fourth Way exercise)
- When putting on your shoes, try and put on the one you usually put on second first. (also Fourth Way, Ravi Ravindra)
- Drink your tea without sugar if you’re used to sugar in your tea. If you’re used to no sugar, just once put in sugar. Works with coffee too obviously. The point is, like the previous one, to become aware of patterns and how hard it is to break them (Jiddu Krishnamurti). The point is NOT to change the pattern. A new pattern is just as much a pattern as the old one. Just create a bit more flexibility.
- When you have to wait for something (grocery line, pc starting up etc.) breath consciously.
- Cleaning the house: be aware of every step of cleaning.
- Keep a diary of your thoughts and feelings. The goal isn’t to create literature, but to observe. So don’t mind repetition.
- Notice… take a deep breath; notice five things you can see. notice five things you can hear; notice five things you can feel (shoes, pants, hair against forehead etc.)
- When you’re annoyed at waiting for a stopping sign, or anything else for that matter, just SMILE (Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhism)
