Activities

“Do thy work but don’t be attached to the fruits of thy effort. Set thy heart upon thy work but never on its reward. Work not for reward but never cease to do ones work. Do thy work free from attachment of selfish desires be not moved from success or failure from ones work. Evenness of mind is Yoga a peace that is ever the same. Work done for reward is lower then work done in the Yoga of wisdom. Go beyond what is well done and what is not well done, go then thou to wisdom Yoga is wisdom in work."

~Bhagavad Gita

Overview

Being Mindful of an activity is doing (sensing, feeling, thinking) something and knowing that you are doing (sensing, feeling, thinking) whatever the activity may be. Using walking as an example, to walk mindfully is to walk and while walking know that you are walking by bringing the focus of attention directly to the physical sensations felt from walking. Often our “knowing” that we are engaged in an activity is focused more on finishing the activity, moving on to the next activity or an activity later on in the day, week, month, year.... The activity is “taken for granted” or “assumed” or “secondary” to other things that distract our attention. Going back to the walking example, even if we are walking around the neighborhood to “relax”, often we are not paying attention to the activity of walking itself, instead we are paying attention to our surroundings, to where we are in our walk (at the beginning, in the middle, or near the end), or working on the bottomless endless “To Do List” within our Mind.

To be mindful of an activity, bring the focus of attention directly to the physical sensations of whatever activity it is you are doing, even for a brief moment. During that moment, let thinking and emotions be in the background, let goals and attachment to results from the activity be in the background. Allow all thoughts about the future or any thoughts about the past float through the Mind rather then getting caught or hung up on their enchanting nature. Instead continue directing attention on the physical sensations being experienced from participating in the activity. Use the activity as an “anchor” to the present moment. All the other “stuff” will take care of itself in due time.

Formal Practice Instructions

MEDITATE DAILYISH. Begin with 5 minutes and progressively extend the sessions until reaching at least 15 to 20 minutes per day. Start where you can. What’s important is that you start, not whether you start “right” or are doing it “right” or “consistently”. You’ll need to MAKE time because you won’t FIND it. Our schedules, habits and reactions in everyday life will always seem more demanding and important than sitting to meditate. When first establishing a meditation practice people often find it helpful to schedule it just before or right after an activity they perform on a daily basis such as bathing, eating, or exercising to help remind and cue them to Meditate.

Select an specific activity you engage in on a daily basis to perform with heightened focused attention. Begin with Mindfulness of Breath Meditation. Once you feel “settled”, let the focus of attention move from feeling the breath to feeling whatever physical sensations are happening in the body at the moment as you engage in the selected activity. You might scan the body with attention as a way of noticing more subtle physical sensations or to notice the sensations in a sequential order from head to toes. In this exercise, you need only feel whatever physical sensations happening in the body right now as you perform the activity. You need not do anything about them. You don’t need to figure them out or make them go away. Let attention rest with whatever physical sensations is happening and let it move whenever it wants. If attention wanders off, gets caught up or gets lost, bring it back to the breath. Have the attention stay with the breath until it feels “settled” again, then move the focus from feeling the breath back to feeling whatever physical sensations are happening in the body at the moment as you continue performing the activity.

Informal Practice Instructions (Everyday Life)

Throughout the day from time to time (if you remember and are inclined to do so) bring Mindfulness and Awareness to whatever it is you are doing. Begin the activity by keeping the body as still as you can. Once you feel “settled”, let the focus of attention move from feeling the breath to feeling the physical sensations of the activity. Again using the walking example, you might rock side to side or back and forth a little and feel the sensations happening. You might let this rocking moving into slowly walking. Focus attention on the sensations in the feet and the sensations of lifting one foot and setting it down, lifting the other foot and setting it down. Continue placing one foot in front of the other noticing any and all physical sensations, thoughts, and emotions that may arise throughout the activity. Notice if attention slips away on the lifting of the left foot, the setting down of the left foot, the lifting of the right foot, or the setting down of the right foot. Often attention will slip away during transitions. See if you can stay focused during the many transitions that occur while performing an activity Mindfully. When the attention gets lost or caught up in something, as soon as you notice, gently bring the attention back to the sensations felt from the activity.

Remember, Have Fun

Just Be & Be Well