I'd already decided to write for #MindfulMonday last week, when I was alerted of the new weekly prompts on The Minimalist Community.
Already decided because I immediately knew it would benefit my own journey to participate in this one and support someone I really like at the same time.
I think they call that a "win/win", which seems to be common around these parts.
And what better way to start a Monday, than with some kind of mindfulness thingy, to set both intentions and practice in place for the week ahead?
Intentions are everything
Writing for this prompt is kinda like starting a day with a better routine.
A good start to a day seems to flow into the remainder of the day, keeping me more aware and balanced. Whereas if I start my day on an unhealthy note, it just seems to escalate into the extremes of "I forgot how many coffees this is", "what lunch?" and "I officially no longer give a f*ck so hand me that cake" by four o'clock.
Which always ends with a crash of some sorts either that evening or the next afternoon. Or whenever I run out of coffee because the internet never sleeps and all.
They say the best laid plans, however... and I've learned to go with that particular flow as well, these days, and to not beat myself up if things don't work out as planned.
I've learned that stuff often doesn't work out as planned (even one little bit) and that, usually, if I let go and trust the process a little...
and keep on taking relevant action to move forward in some kind of direction...
things often work out far better than planned anyway.
Because they also say:
"You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you'll find
You get what you need" Dem Rollin' Stones said it best 👍
I didn't do it
Today I did not do my usual mindfulness practices and I'm writing this anyway, because I already had this post planned after my practice yesterday.
I spend most of my time walking around with posts, stories and creative projects swimming around inside my brain. It can get a bit hectic in here and the only way to find some peace and space (and minimalism mentally), so that more creativity can simmer and blossom, is to get them written or made...
and to release them into the world.
It's by creating that I usually find my inner peace as much as I do by meditating, by the way. I don't know if it's the same for you as a creative, but I go through patches of almost silence while my concepts, rants or ideas simmer.
I procrastinate at times. I avoid the work at times. I ignore the intense build up of energy for as long as I can at times and then...
BOOM 💥
I sit and write or "make" until it's "out" and I'm "empty" again.
So now that I think of it...
creating is practicing minimalism in my head.
What was the bang?
I can't not create by this point.
It feels as though I'll explode if I don't and there's an urgency to get it done, by the time I get to this stage, that makes it pretty much impossible to do anything else that requires any kind of real focus.
And after it's "out" there's always this incredible sense of peace and emptiness for a while... until the next one begins to bubble to the surface.
So I guess writing this post is, in a way, my mindfulness practice for today.
Huh!
See how things work out anyway if only we allow them to?
Neat!
What happened
What I did write in my head yesterday, was a post on a new mindfulness practice I've begun with my son recently.
And this one was totally inspired by Milly's post, so it seemed fitting to start my jaunt on these daily prompts with this story.
It was because of Milly's post, and her always awesome responses and engagement, that I finally took the plunge and began to practice Qi Gong with my son.
I've always been very into yoga.
And I'm also a firm supporter of a specific meditation technique that I've personally had pretty spectacular results from learning. And practicing. Of course!
Vipassana, to clarify.
Vipassana is a non-specific to any religion technique, that teaches a person radical acceptance and is said to be the doorway to what is considered the "Truth".
The "Truth" of "the nature of things" that is.
Although it was, supposedly, handed down by Gautama as the "way to enlightenment" (which is affiliated to the Eight Fold Path / Buddhism), Gautama himself repeatedly advised that he wasn't a god of any kind and that each individual should walk their own "path", to figure out what their truth was - for themselves.
There are no deities worshiped in Buddhism.
It's more a philosophical approach to guide people on how to live a good life, in order to reach "enlightenment" - which is, basically, the end of "suffering".
The "Buddhas" are considered to be, only human, teachers who are further along and who can guide others on the best principles to follow to avoid "bad karma" and unnecessary suffering.
And so, if you find yourself in a Vipassana course sometime, you'll be told by the teachers themselves that this technique is open to everyone from any religion (or secular belief system) as a meditation practice.
Which is all it is.
It's by practicing this technique that the true nature of "existence" is revealed (which is surprisingly scientific, in fact). It's with this understanding, and mental clarity, that a person is "freed" to choose how to respond and, even, how to "Be".
And when you finally experience it, it is pretty eye-opening.
But I don't want to spoil(er) it for anyone.
And, as Gautama so cleverly said, I can't explain it anyway.
You kinda have to "do" these things for the knowledge to move from Hypothesis (which is all verbal and written knowledge really is, until we've tested it for ourselves) into any kind of "fact" or "truth" for yourself.
It's enough to share, I think, that the meditation technique requires what they call a "sitting". Usually for an hour at a time... three times a day.
In our very Western world this is hard to do, so I try to do at least half an hour a day and I manage one hour a day when I'm doing well with it. And this "sitting" requires total focus on a particular internal action...
with no movement of the external body at all.
Because of this aspect of the practice, I assumed (when I did my first course) that I was about to learn about "radical acceptance". And yes, much of this practice does teach this experientially in the most beautiful way.
And I'm about to show you how, by telling you the story of my practice yesterday to illustrate this in full.
Our morning mindfulness routine
My son and I now do a ten minute learner Qi Gong tutorial on YouTube (and then some core work / pushups afterwards).
I home-school at the moment so Phys Ed, right? Nice to get to choose something like Tai Chi or Qi Gong for the Phys Ed class, innit?
I've tried to encourage him to get into martial arts or yoga for some time. Anything that requires discipline and mindfulness, in fact, because I know full well the benefits of learning to control your mind in a now inevitably stressful world.
All of these types of practices do this over time.
"Still your mind, young Jedi!" I quip when he back-chats and resists.
"Training, training!" I mutter.
So after much cajoling and eventually pulling the "I'm your parent and I said so" card, because all kids just wanna sit in front of tv and barely move at this age I guess, I got him to participate in a class with me.
He clearly enjoys it!
"It's the same movement Dr Strange uses!" I exclaimed, as we learned.
It is though.
And he's starting to teach me what I'm doing wrong as we go now. It's great to spend time with him learning this, by the way. Really beautiful bonding time and I'm loving it for this reason most of all.
That may go both ways.
It usually does.
After our pushups yesterday, I meandered off to do my bit of yoga and meditation. My things. Done 'em for years. Can't live without 'em.
Okay... I can but it sucks.
I do stop and start. Life happens... I forget what a difference they make to my day (especially when I've been doing them regularly and am feeling like a superhero) and I, at times, let a day or two go by...
that turns out to be a week or a month.
Or sometimes even a year or two.
But I've come back to these practices repeatedly for over 21 years now.
The yoga went okay.
I'm just picking it up again after injuring myself a year or so ago and having to stop to heal a bit. It's frustrating to be "starting again" after I was so fit, but slow and steady wins this non-race.
You'll get that joke, if you've practiced yoga.
For those who haven't had the pleasure yet...
yoga isn't a physical exercise as much as it is learning to be in the present moment as you are right now. Some days you may be able to do some poses. Some days not. Some days you may find it easy to do a balance. Other days you'll keep falling over.
The key is acceptance and allowing things (and yourself) to be as you are right here and now.
It's about letting go of expectations and the outcome of things.
Even the power based practices work towards grounding a person in the present moment, to get into the right headspace to meditate / or pray (if you're this way inclined). The goal isn't actually about fitness at all.
It's about presence.
So a liddle bit of Ashtanga (my preferred style because I can be a bit of a boy) and then into the Vipassana...
which is where the start of, after this rather wordy introduction to, the story begins.
I got into a comfortable position, outside in a cool shady patch under the trees...
and I began the "sitting".
(Remembering this requires a person not to move for the duration)
The learning
Yeah... you know what's coming next.
Or what came next.
The ants came next.
That's what came next.
Now... I don't know if this doesn't explain experiential learning in a nutshell but...
if you're really practicing Vipassana it's required that you sit something like this out.
And I did.
As much as I could but hey...
I've let this practice slide a bit while I've been moving around and I didn't make it quite the whole way through. Short by a minute so I won't beat myself up too much.
Suffice to say that the "allowing"; the "radical acceptance"; the "understanding that everything passes so just wait and don't react" was pretty experiential yesterday!
The "not judging" the sensations. The "staying detached" from the judgement that did inevitably arise. It was all right there in a cut short but extremely radical practice.
Thanks, ants!
I appreciate the learning, but I'm gonna pick another spot movin' forward.
It's like that
You "do" these practices and you really "get" them because you're putting them into action. All those "spiritual" principles of "everything passes"; "judge not" and "acceptance"...
they mean very little until you've been presented with an opportunity to put them into action to see how and why they work so well.
To integrate these "principles" as "truths" for yourself.
Yesterday, I was gifted (by the ants) with some more experiential knowledge and learning.
With a lot of practice. 😬
And today... even though I didn't "do" those practices... it seems to have stuck with me as I find myself (again) in pretty stressful times with patience, humour and some excitement about the possibilities...
instead of fear of the unknown.
Because this is what these mindfulness practices deliver as a final outcome, if they're done regularly.
So tomorrow I'm back on it.
Possibly ants and all.
Eternal Seeker
Hardened Dreamer
Mother
Warrior
Determined Dancer
and Stargazer
still...
Beyond fear is freedom
And there is nothing to be afraid of.
To Life, with Love... and always for Truth!
Nicky Dee
Featured image montage created with Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash
and Photo by Herbert Goetsch on Unsplash
and Photo by Dale Nibbe on Unsplash