Mindfulness - Part 1
A student of Mindfulness
Mindfulness doesn’t come naturally to me. I work at feeling grounded, present, and mindful every day. Every. Single. Day.
My practice comes in many different forms. Some of these might resonate with you, some (maybe all) won’t. That’s okay. Some of you will be like me and need to work at this regularly, others will find this easy. We’re all so unique and that’s what makes us so lovely.
We need all different types of people in the world. I love being around grounded people, their quiet calmness feels so relaxing to me. And my higher energy helps create movement and change, which is also needed in the world.
We can fully embrace our natural talents and constitution AND work on the other side of things. Grounded people may need to work on building fire in their body (fire creates drive and creates new things), others may need to work on building movement and change (the air element). I need earth – groundedness and presence.
What’s important is – be exactly who you are. Embrace your strengths and find balance in your less-strong parts.
Because I naturally like movement, my practices bring stillness, calm and presence to my day. This month is all about mindfulness and stillness, so that’s what we’re going to talk about mostly. But, if you’re naturally grounded and want some help with movement, let’s talk about it in our Facebook Group or send your questions to me [LINKS].
These are some of the practices I do regularly. I (try) to include at least one each day…and I go through phases where I’m very successful in that, and other times when I lose any connection to these practices.
That’s okay, sometimes I need this more than others…and I believe that kindness toward ourselves, even when we get out of our healthy habits, is really important.
We don’t need any more guilt in our life right now. When I realize I’m not feeling grounded, I move back into these practices. That’s all…no more pressure than that.
Some of my practices
Meditation –
My first experience with meditation was through my clients many years ago. Every time I worked with someone who regularly meditated I felt a bit of jealousy, and I felt a deep yearning to meditate.
But, I always felt like I didn’t have enough time. Truthfully, I had PLENTY of time as a single person without kids and a major Netflix habit. But, I couldn’t see it at the time.
In 2012 I worked at an Integrative Cancer Care Centre with a beautiful group of people. There we taught all of the stress-relieving practices that can be helpful when you’re dealing with a chronic health problem…and we were expected to walk the talk.
So, every morning we meditated together as a group for 25 mins, it was even in our contract (my first and only time I’ve had “meditation” in my contract). This was a life-changing moment for me.
I was there 2 days a week and after just a few short months of meditating 2x per day, I found a calmness I didn’t know existed.
Before this, many people over the years had commented on my high-energy/high-strung nature, and I didn’t quite understand what they meant. At the time I felt calm…but through this meditation practice, I found a new and deeper calmness that I could find any time I wanted to.
Meditation is powerful because it literally wires your brain to feel calmness. And the best news is you don’t need to have a perfectly calm mind to feel the benefits, and actually, a bouncing monkey-mind can be helpful.
Every time you notice yourself thinking about something and then choose to let go of the thought and go back to concentrating on your breathing, you create a new neural pathway to calm. Meditation is a practice of calming the mind, NOT having a calm mind.
Research has found that we gain the same benefits of meditation the first time we do it as those who’ve been practicing for decades. So, you don’t need to do it well nor do you have to do it for a long time before you gain the benefits.
Just do it once :). Then, maybe twice.
I meditated every day for 2 years (2014 – 2016), and then it stopped feeling good to me. Now, I will sometimes meditate, but I use other grounding/mindful practices instead.
If you’d like to try it yourself, I’ve listed a bunch of resources here and the wonderful Lisa Dumas (who’s provided Part II of this masterclass) has provided some guided meditations for us.
Qi Gong
Oh, how I love Qi Gong right now.
This is a moving meditative practice, that my body is enjoying a lot right now. If you find sitting still through a meditation difficult, then you might also enjoy Qi Gong.
It’s an ancient Chinese practice that combines movement with breathing and energy. Here’s a better description if you’d like to know more about it.
If you’d like to try it, there are many great videos on YouTube. Like YoQi and Mimi Kuo-Deemer.
Nature
Spending time in nature is my favourite way to feel more grounded and mindful.
I find it’s much easier to calm my mind when I’m around trees and water, and research is finding the same thing.
In Japan, there’s a concept called shinrin-yoku, or Nature Bathing. The Japanese government is building parks inside cities so workers can feel the benefits of nature during their workday.
Research has found that just 20 mins of nature bathing can lower cortisol and other stress hormones. The key is you need to be fully enveloped in nature, with the sights and sounds of the city a forgotten memory.
I moved to British Columbia just over 10 years ago from Toronto, Ont and I didn’t realize how detrimental living in a city was to me until I moved. I feel much more clear-headed and creative living around nature and I have the wonderful privilege of seeing nature out my window. I’m grateful for this every day
(this is a picture of the view from my workspace…lots of good creating happens here <3 )
Other grounding methods –
In the last few months a great yoga studio has opened in my little town and I’m feeling the amazing benefits of a regular yoga practice. I feel stronger and feeling grounded is coming more naturally to me.
I’ve also learned a Daoist standing meditation recently that I’m attempting to bring into my regular practice. Honestly, sometimes it feels torturous…but I have an inkling that in this case, the resistance I’m feeling is because it’s good for me (that’s not always the case…but it can be). So, I’m giving it a proper go and see how it works.
What are your favourite ways of finding groundedness? Do you have any daily (or kinda daily) practices that you enjoy? Share them with us!
There are so many options that it’s impossible to name them all :). That’s why I’d love to hear about what you find is working, that way we can learn from each other <3.
Got any questions or comments? Jump to our private Facebook Group or the Ask Lisa page :)