For a minute we would simply listen and remember everything that we heard. We would then take turns telling our class mates what our ears had picked up on. It was a mindful exercise I learned when I was only six utilizing only one of my senses. I still use it today, but I've expanded it to include all of them. Here's my senses experience from today.
I've been doing a lot of driving, lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying and so forth over the last few days with work and home life and this morning my muscles started to protest.
I could feel the tightness in my shoulders and the knots building up in my neck. I knew what I needed badly - a Saturday bubblebath soakaway. I tapped in the water with loads of bubbles and I let it fill so I could really indulge. It didn't take much self convincing to be honest.
There are weeks when I work my body hard and weeks when it gets off lightly but in both cases I try to treat it well and with care and respect - it's the only one I've ever had, it's the only one I've ever needed and if you knew my age, you'd think I did a pretty good job of taking care of it.
The same goes for my mind. The general stresses of the day do tend to make it quite a jumble and without a decompress, it can get out of whack pretty quickly and on the road to overwhelm so I try to take things as they come and deal with them.
Today I was tending to both. The bubbles were legion and happily I greeted the warmth of the water as I slunk into the tub. It enveloped me and immediately I felt calm starting to return. My sore shoulders started to relax and my muscles eased up as they were messaged by the water. My nose was treated to a delight of strawberry scented bubblebath, the aroma swirled around me on the mist and I closed my eyes to appreciate it to the fullest.
My skin started to soften at the touch of the water, it was soft like that of a sensual, caring lover and I lay there submerged for a long time. Just me, clearing my mind while listening to the birds outside calling each other. Everything else faded away and I felt my whole being become supple and light as if floating. It was somewhat surreal.
When I opened my eyes, the world around me was shrouded in a mist from the water evaporating and it clung to my eye lashes as it danced past in wisps. My lashes hung low as if dreamy. I didn't want to leave, it was the most comfortable I have been in days and was the number one contender to my soft bed.
I basked in the moment of utter surrender to my senses and felt like it was all going to be ok. That every moment was coming and going just as it should and I was exactly where I needed to be. It was delicious feeling like that. So I let myself just soak it all in and when the water got cold, I tapped more in because sometimes you just have to admit that you deserve it and take advantage while you have the opportunity.
Mindfulness is important these days, especially with how busy our lives have become. We need to sometimes remind ourselves that it's okay to take a few minutes to ourselves and become immersed in our senses and reset our minds.