Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts

Tuesday, 17 September 2024

How to be busy and mindful.

 New job is now a couple of weeks in and I am getting used ( slowly) to being the newbie at work. Plenty of opportunities to practice mindfulness!

I'd be lying if I said I was feeling on top of everything; and why would I be anyway?! So many things to take in. But taking a mindful approach and, perhaps most importantly, catching myself when I start to overthink/overplan is what I have been, and intend to carry on doing.

The standing posture when waiting for the photocopier or in the staffroom waiting to get to the coffee, the walking from one classroom to another, the time between, before and after the lessons. Coming home and really enjoying the cup of tea in the garden ( thank you late summer sun) or inside are all times to stop and just be. All of these are manageable during the busy day. Why is there so much emphasis on being busy all the time. I have gone down that road. I choose the path of taking more time to notice and act, to think and reflect, to respond not react - and when I take an unexpected turning I'll go with it and see what occurs and deal with it at the time. 

Back to the title- how to be busy and mindful; be a little less busy and a little more aware of the taste of the cup of coffee/tea, take time in a queue to breathe and just be in the moment, go outside ( even in the rain- have a coat!) and be kind to yourself and those around you.


This is one of my favourite quotes and I will unashamedly keep sharing it. 


Friday, 23 August 2024

Mindfulness and nature

 Recently we were lucky enough to take on an allotment. 

This morning as I was weeding to give the half a dozen teeny carrots and a dozen or so little lettuces that have made it through the germination stage I was amazed to see how the morning had passed without seeming to have been there for more than half an hour.

Was I being fully mindful the whole time that I was there?  With the sun on my back, warm soil between my fingers and a growing pile of weeds there were certainly many moments where I was fully aware of the environment around me from buzzing bugs and bees  to a tiny ladybird, to weeds that seemed to go all the way through the earth's crust and the delicate seedlings that we have been nurturing.

Look at these teeny lettuces! 
Look carefully and you can spot the even teenier carrots!

And yes, I did take time to just sit and take in what was around me. Being outside , getting hands-on with nature and (hopefully) enjoying the produce at some point is certainly great for wellbeing. And this is coming from someone who has never been into gardening. Houseplants have always been more my thing. But whether it is inside or out, large or small, being in touch with nature and helping things grow is certainly somethng that I find calming , rewarding and enjoyable. 

I will update this in January/February when the sun is unlikely to be beating down and the clay rich soil will be a very different entity to today.

Worry? Me?!

Accepting impermanence is often quoted as a key to adopting and embracing mindfulness. Easier said than done. If I had a penny for every tim...