Hello~
How are you today? Good I hope. So, here is lesson 7.
Fall
So, it is not exactly Fall yet, but it is close enough. I really love Summer, but Fall brings back memories of childhood. First of all it is back to school time. Then we have Halloween. When I was a child, we lived across the street from an apricot orchard. We kids loved to play in there. When I take a walk this time of year, with the crispness in the air, I go back to those days. As I practice mindfulness on the walk, I feel young again. After a walk in the Fall air, I feel so refreshed.
In this busy world, we don’t generally have the opportunity to take a walk in an orchard, on the beach, along a river or on a mountain top. Most of us take a walk around the neighborhood or downtown perhaps. With the sound of traffic, it can be challenging to put the outside world out of mind and find it relaxing. It isn’t just noise either is it? There is the smell of food cooking. There are kids on skateboards and bicycles. There are all sorts of distractions. But with practice, you can learn to put most of the distractions out of your mind by watching your breath. Pay attention to your breathing. I am breathing in. I am breathing out.
If you have a friend or coworker who would join you on the walk, it can help. But you must both keep silent. The idea is to be mindful of your walking buddy instead of the traffic and distractions you encounter. It is always easier to learn a new skill with a buddy. You can talk (after) about your success and challenges as well.
Walking with distractions is good for you
Although we would all love to be able to walk along a quiet beach, in the forest, or even in a park, walking along a noisy street is good practice. Why? Well, in order to get great at mindfulness, we need to learn to do it under all circumstances.
One of the important things to do when training a dog is to do it with distractions. It is one thing to train your dog in the privacy of your quiet yard. But often it is challenging to get your dog to do what you ask when you are out in public. When out in public, your dog has millions of wonderful scents to check out. There are other dogs. There are cats. There are other people. A dog is only well trained if it responds to your commands with all these distractions.
As it is with dogs, it takes true mastery of mindfulness to remain silent, focused and aware with distractions. So, when you are limited to walking in and about town, take pleasure in the opportunity to practice mindfulness among all the distractions.
How is your mindfulness going?
I would like to know how you are doing with this new skill. Leave me a message. www.facebook.com/lisaylifecoach
Yeah!
Lisa Y coaching