I think that when my dog rolls over and shows me her belly she’s telling me to stop whatever it is I’m doing and rub her tummy. It’s her way of saying “you need to stop and smell the roses”. At those moments we have a truly symbiotic relationship. She gets her belly rubbed, which she clearly enjoys, and I’m taking a few minutes relaxing and relishing the pure joy of the moment. It’s an example of some seriously happy mindfulness.
The Buddhist teacher and monk Thich Nhat Hanh talks about finding moments of mindfulness everywhere – doing the dishes, standing in line at the grocery store, stopped at a stop light, while eating. While I try to take 10 minutes every morning for my mindfulness practice, it doesn’t have to be, and really shouldn’t be limited to a formal approach.
A few years ago I bought a Lego set of The Lincoln Memorial. It’s one of their Architecture sets and has about 275 small pieces. I sat down one afternoon and built it without a break. I was completely focused on what I was doing. I look at that as a good example of being mindful, being in the moment, without setting out to practice mindfulness. I just wanted to build that Lego set.
I’ve seen my father listening to classical music, leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. He’s listening intently and I think this is mindfulness.
The baseball playoffs are on right now and if you watch a batter who’s about to have a ball thrown towards him at 90 miles per hour, he is focused on nothing but that ball. That’s mindfulness.
The moment can be high stakes (a ball whizzing by your ear) or as peaceful as rubbing a dog’s belly. Don’t miss those moments. The more you take notice of them, the easier they are to see, and the easier they are to see, the more of them you’ll enjoy.
Featured image courtesy of me (that’s my dog) and is copyrighted.
