When I was in preschool and we were getting a bit rambunctious, our teacher would call a timeout in the air. Everyone instantly knew that they needed to return to their desks, close their eyes, calm themselves by breathing deeply and listen.
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.
My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why
I got out of bed at all
The morning rain clouds up my window
And I can't see at all
And even if I could, it'd all be grey
But your picture on my wall
It reminds me that it's not so bad
Not so bad
And I want to thank you
For giving me the best day of my life
Oh, just to be with you
Is having the best day of my life
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.
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.
This morning I was up early, way before the crack of dawn, I had to drive to work and while I was rounding a corner this beautiful song by Dido came on. Emotion welled up inside me, a million memories of the time it came out, it took me back to when I was an associate in the music industry and this became a huge hit, it was on the top chart for ages.
It gripped my heart the same way that I gripped the steering wheel and hung on tight. It lullabied me round the bends and serenaded me along the straights. I was enraptured and wished that I could just close my eyes and let it take me away drifting on it's beautiful melody.
I sang along and images of someone special filtered through my mind and the words that rang so true, I wished I was somewhere else and not having to be going to work, but it was not so bad, because I had my picture in my head of him looking at me and smiling. It was all I needed to feel grateful in the moment.
It is wonderful how listening to a song can evoke such a strong emotional response matched by heart and soul. The tempo can change your heartbeat, your breathing and even your blood pressure. The images can bring on longing, love, appreciation and so many other emotions. Your skin can tingle on the high notes like mine did and on the chorus, the knowledge that your heart belongs to someone so valuable, loveable, important and theirs does too. It was a moment when all of my senses were embraced by warmth and happiness, contentment and love.
It was a romantic kind of moment when my eyes saw everything with a little bit more clarity, my touch was soft and tender, my heart was happy and squishy like a marshmallow. It was a beautiful feeling, a beautiful sound, a beautiful moment of contemplation and imagination.
It is wonderful how listening to a song can evoke such a strong emotional response matched by heart and soul. The tempo can change your heartbeat, your breathing and even your blood pressure. The images can bring on longing, love, appreciation and so many other emotions. Your skin can tingle on the high notes like mine did and on the chorus, the knowledge that your heart belongs to someone so valuable, loveable, important and theirs does too. It was a moment when all of my senses were embraced by warmth and happiness, contentment and love.
It was a romantic kind of moment when my eyes saw everything with a little bit more clarity, my touch was soft and tender, my heart was happy and squishy like a marshmallow. It was a beautiful feeling, a beautiful sound, a beautiful moment of contemplation and imagination.
