Day at a time. Mindfulness of routine activities. 26/3/20

https://yestolife.org.uk/day-at-a-time-a-daily-blog-of-life-in-lockdown/

Woke up at 6.45 am and got up. Another stunningly beautiful day. Downstairs for coffee with a plan to go straight up to my attic meditation room. Husband awake too. News on. All these scary figures being announced. Turned it off and listened to something uplifting and inspiring instead.

Morning exercise – bathroom cleaning. Feeling my body as it moves, how my back feels as I bend over, the feeling of muscles stretching and lengthening, the feeling of the cold metal of the tap, the water on my skin, the sound of water filling the basin and then the feeling of rubber gloves on my hands, the smell of the cleaning product, the sensations in my arm and shoulder, wrist and hand as the cleaning begins. Just this cleaning, nothing else – a meditation in itself.

As I write I’m becoming aware that the mindful bathroom cleaning was possible because there is nothing to hurry for – no agenda, no busyness anymore. So much more possible to enjoy the moment as it is. In this present moment there is nothing to fear. Fear is an imagined future, but right now I am perfectly okay, the birds are singing, the sun is shining, the sheep are walking past the end of the garden and the greens shoots are sprouting through the earth.

Hint: Any daily activity can be a mindfulness practice. It just involves paying moment by moment attention to what we are doing, noticing through our senses how it feels.

Practice: Mindful handwashing. Right now we are being advised to regularly wash our hands for 20-30 seconds. How about making this a meditation practice? Feeling feet on the floor, the coldness of the tap, the temperature of the water, the scent of the soap or handwash, the feeling of one hand massaging the other, paying attention to each part of the hand, each finger and the space between the fingers, the thumb, the palms, the back of the hands and maybe treating the wrists to a little massage. Noticing the intention to finish and rinse, and feeling the arm stretching out towards the tap and turning it on again, hands underneath the water again, water flowing over the hands, reaching for the towel, drying…..