I will admit, I am a skeptic at times, and do not like to try and jump on the latest fads of things. For instance, vinyl music has been considered a dead music medium by many for a long time, but has recently made a resurgence and I admit, it took me a long time to jump onto getting into collecting records of both old and new. Wouldn’t you know it, since doing it, I have rediscovered my love and passion for all things music and have been enjoying introducing my daughter to all sorts of amazing music and being able to bond with her as we dance to Elvis, Carole King, and even Nirvana. But, this isn’t about music…..or is it………?
I took a few trainings on mindfulness and what it really is. Naturally, different people all have different perspectives or ways to teach it. So, what do you do in this case? I felt that I jumped on the one that made the most sense to me, which ironically, involves our senses. Five sense mindfulness to me, is such a great way to try and redirect your mind to coming back to the present moment and grounding yourself. Want to do a quick mindfulness activity? Great! Go grab something out of your pantry or fridge. A grape, cheese, fruit snack, whatever. Now, take your time and inspect that one little food item. How does it feel? Look? Smell? Describe it to yourself or a partner out loud until you can describe it no more. Now, as you get ready to take a bite, think back to when you were a child and your parents told you to chew your food 25 times before swallowing. Do that here, and pay attention to all of your senses as you eat this food. What do you notice? What did you like? Dislike? Rinse and repeat with the remainder of it.
Congrats! You invested your total brain power and focus to eating one tiny morsel of food. Your brought yourself to the moment and hopefully, if your mind wandered, you brought it back to the food item. Obviously it would not be realistic to eat every time we get anxious, but what else can we do? Listen to music? Deep breathe? Color a mandala? YES! And do those things mindfully! What do you notice as you focus totally on the music? How do your muscles feel as you breathe slow and controlled breaths? Are you using crayons to color, how is the touch or the smell? All things to unite us to our basic human to world navigation and bringing us back to the present.
Have fun with it and you’ll be surprised how great it can be to get back to the present and being in the moment rather than constantly getting stressed over what can not be controlled in the now.