Mind Full or Mindful?

Engaging in these activities could be blissful – we can feel a sense of joy and wellbeing, but it often passes us by so we don’t get to fully experience them. We take them for granted and only feel them superficially, while giving more attention to that which causes us physical or emotional discomfort. But how do we move closer to this blissful state?

Before I get into this, let me tell you a little more about my cousin, Vishnu. He has always loved cooking and he is great at it. When he invited me to dinner, I jumped at the opportunity. Vishnu and I used to walk to school together when I was six years old. We used to play together as children and then we grew up and our lives took different paths. Who he is now is a regular guy with a regular job. He appreciates music, art and architecture and is very creative. He enjoys hanging out at the pub and meeting different people. He can lose himself in the kitchen while creating sumptuous meals from scratch. He makes all his own spices and uses old fashioned methods to get the best flavours. He feels good doing it and gets fully immersed in the the creative process where he is completely focused on the task at hand and not thinking of anything else. He is living in the moment.

Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? So if we can just change our perception slightly and view everyday tasks that we often consider mundane and a waste of precious time, in a more positive way, not only will we be less stressed, we might even be healthier. If we can view cooking as a creative and mindful activity, we can achieve a greater balance between our overly stressed left brains and our creative right brain which we often don’t use in our technical and analytical day jobs.

How else can we experience mindfulness in our everyday lives? An acquaintance recently recommended that I visit a particular Buddhist centre in France, given my interest in Buddhism through Lu Jong. Apart from the meditation and teachings, it is expected that visitors staying at the centre will join in with the daily cleaning activities of the monks, as cleaning your environment is considered a mindfulness activity. I was rather intrigued by this idea as I have always considered cleaning to be a chore and outsourced the task. This discovery coincided with my trusted cleaner retiring, so instead of finding another someone else to do the job, I decided to give it a go myself. I was amazed to find that I had a number of great insights while dusting or doing the hoovering. One of them was Lu Jong for Families, which I will be making available in the new year.

Other everyday activities that could provide an opportunity for mindfulness:

• Actually feeling the feeling of the water on your skin while having a shower
• Really enjoying the taste and flavours of a piece of dark chocolate after a meal – you might find that you will be satisfied with less if you stop for a second or two and really appreciate every bite, or a few
• Taking the time to look at the trees and flowers in your environment or go for a walk to find them and actually look at them them or listen out for the song of the birds. ‘What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare’ William Henry Davies
• People watching – a favourite pastime of many people. Really look at people (not in too weird or obvious a way of course, or you might get into trouble), watch their expressions and hand gestures. Realise their humanity. We are after all, all being of light and love. We are not our behaviours that have been shaped by our environment, experiences and education, or lack thereof.

These activities can clear your mind and relax you, allowing you to solve problems and be more creative when you do have to tackle your job that is probably essential for your financial health and wellbeing.

Enjoying simple, everyday activities brings us closer to our Bliss Body and further away from our Pain Body