Walking to work this morning I was quite literally breathless from the cold. I am not a big fan of cold weather and my natural inclination is to stay inside, by a fire telling myself that I hate the cold. I have, however, been undertaking some further research around the benefits of mindfullness and this morning's cold seemed like the perfect opportunity to put some of this knowledge into practice.
So, I noticed that I felt cold and I noticed that my mind began its usual narrative of complaints and some fear too. I then took my attention to my body, to the sensations I could feel. My fingers were cold, they felt tingly and sort of awake. The cold, crisp air felt clean in my nose. I became really aware that the sun was shining and I took a moment to be grateful that it was not raining this morning. My acceptance was that it was cold and I am not really too keen on the cold but my narrative changed to one of awareness and gratitude. All of this happened in only a few moments and when I arrived in to my office I had a decided spring in my step and smile on my face.
I would doubtless have rather been on a sunbed in Bali or a beach in Spain but actually there was joy in my morning walk and as I sit here this afternoon writing this my memory of this morning is a good one and my next crisp, cold morning walk feels as though it has the potential to be a positive experience with its own merits and beauty.
I highly recommend a bit if mindfullness when going about the day, start by using your senses to really notice what is around you and in your body then add language to describe what you see and the way it feels. This is not about pretending that the reality is different more about exploring what is really going on in the moment
I am minded of a quote I read once, 'what is we are ok in this moment, if we are happy and have all that we need, if nothing is wrong, but we hadn't taken the time to notice.'
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