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.
What a stunningly gorgeous day it
GRRRRRRR WHIRRRRR WHIIRR WHIR DOOF DOOF DOOF
What was I just thinking about? Oh yes, the weather. It's so clear today and
BIIIIIIIRRRRRRR RRRRRR RRRR RRRR TICK TICK tick tick tick didididididididitick tick tick
Fuck! My head. Jolted and swayed and all the thoughts being knocked out of it with that constant NOISE!
You see today my brother is in the kitchen here. He's pulling out the cupboards and replacing them with a new set. The entire house is filled with the packings of shelves and cupboards, ten million bottles of things, spices, oils, dressings, a lot of pasta and a gazillion other goodies too. There is simply noise everywhere.
It's doing my head in.
I've found that I'm
Brrrrrr GREEEEEEEE
very sensitive to loud sounds. They make me jump and my breathing goes for a loop too. I really wasn't expecting it to be so loud here but I'm grateful that he's doing it. The only part I don't like is that I have offered him help about fifteen times and he simply refuses. Perhaps I wouldn't feel all the
VROOOOOO VROOO VR VR VR GRRRRRRR DISH DISH DISH
if I was in the midst of the chaos and helping out but he insisted so I won't push the subject any longer. It's crazy how much these sounds are damaging my calm as Mr Cobb from Firefly would say.
To top it off, he has Pink Floyd blaring upstairs so that he can hear it above all the
DOOOF DOOF THWANG
and every now and again something goes wrong and I hear him very politely say "shit" and then he fixes it up again. He'll get it all done and hopefully afterwards the peace and serenity will return to the house.
It was quite a nice day today as I was telling you before. We've had the most pleasant weather here, the temperature is warm but not scorching, the sky is deep blue with stingy whisps of clouds dragged along it like a painted backdrop. The trees are sexy in all their new vibrant green and the birds are happily dancing from one branch to the next.
I couldn't have asked for a more stunning day to try and relax but with the constant cacophony raging around me, it's kind of difficult. I haven't been sleeping too well lately and I feel really really tired so was hoping for a nap earlier but that's not going to happen with me being serenaded by power tools. I love power tools but only when they're in my hands and I'm the source of the noise lol. Perhaps that's me being a control freak? Perhaps I just like the peace and quiet that I've so come to revere and love over the last while. It keeps me balanced, productive and happy.
How about you? Are you sensitive to sounds or are you happy to deal with construction noises when they happen around you? Let me know in the comments.
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.
