Remembering

Mindfulness has become a familiar term in our culture. Recently I had a family member ask if I could sit with her and explain the meaning of mindfulness. This question inspired some personal reflection. I began exploring what exactly mindfulness means to me and why it is that a mindful based experience is one to work towards.

Smriti is the Sanskrit word for mindfulness. Smriti means “to remember.” While teaching meditation I will often say to students, “breathe and KNOW that you are breathing.” This statement is a call to mindfulness and brings our attention to the fact that we often don’t even realize we are breathing. It is a call to remember where I am and what I am doing. To be mindful is to tend to what is happening right now in this moment, to remember the Now.

We each have a habit of escape. I am referring to the patterns and habits that stop us from fully engaging in our current moment experience. Escape can come in the form of anxious thought, anger, future obsessing, past obsessing, negative self-talk which leads to inactivity, amongst many others. My escape habit is anxious thought. What are your escape habits?

In this moment, pause and look around. What do you see? Look at the furniture in the room, what color are the walls? What are you doing? If you are with a loved one, stop and really look at them. Can you see beyond their physical appearance to who they really are?

What emotions are happening right now? Is there sadness, fear, anxiety, depression? Is there joy, excitement, anticipation? After identifying your current emotional state – practice being with it. Sit with sadness, sit with joy, sit with love.

Next time you are washing the dishes notice your mental activity. Pause and practice mindful dish-washing. Notice the temperature of the water. Notice how the water feels as it runs over your hands. Notice the texture of the dish. Hear the sounds that happen during dish-washing; running water, movement of the sponge, clanking of the dishes.

Mindful living is a practice. We never arrive and will naturally return to our habits of escape. The practice is in noticing when we have escaped and remembering where we are. Let this day be a day of Remembering.