manabunnow4zph – Mindfulness Challenges

Deeper Meaning Behind Slowing It Down

Where did my mindfulness challenge of the week to “slow it down” actually originate? On the Parkinsons Recovery cruise to Alaska in 2010 there was a most delightful woman. She was in her 80s and showed little evidence of her symptoms whatsoever. It was clear by her own report that she had experienced Parkinson’s symptoms for 20 or more years. It was also clear that she had been able to manage her life quite beautifully.

During a time when the entire group was together we were all sharing stories about what therapies and approaches made a difference. She said that the one thing she learned was most helpful was to plan ahead and give herself plenty of time to do each and every activity. She said,

“For example, if my husband and I have decided that we’re going to have a dinner party, I don’t wait until the last minute to begin preparing for the party. I begin preparing the day before. The day of the party I start quite early in the morning preparing everything that needs to be ready by the time of the party with regard to the food and cleaning up the house. By starting early I mindfully attend to each and every task that needs to be completed before our guests arrive.

“Twenty years ago”, she reported, “I would have waited until just a few hours before the party started and rushed to get everything ready. Now, because that creates so much stress and it aggravates my symptoms so desperately, I have learned a different way of living. I mindfully attend to each and every task. I’m centered. I’m clear. I’m able to focus on the task of the moment rather than worrying about whether everything will actually be done, finished and ready when my guests arrive.”

That is how she approached all tasks in her life; slowly and mindfully, not just tasks involving preparations for parties. Most important of all, she gave herself plenty of time to finish each and every task.

If our day is packed with too many commitments, the difficulty (as it turns out) is that with each activity, we are always watching the clock. We are always thinking,

“I must complete the task at hand quickly, because the next task has to start in 15 minutes.”

Or we think,

“I promised my friend that I would be at the coffee shop at ten o’clock. I must complete this baking task before I actually see her because I promised her that I would bring her my special brownies for her birthday.”

Et cetera. Et cetera. In other words, we are always focused on the future. We are always anticipating that we must complete what we are doing now in order to be on time or have enough time to do what we have decided we must complete by the end of the day. We are forever rushing from one task to the next without being mindfully attentive to the task at hand.

Slow it down. Plan. Reduce the number of tasks that you expect to complete in any given day. Marvel at the reduction in stress that your body will experience.

I can assure you that your body will thank you profusely. I also predict that your symptoms will dissolve like a dirty snowball in the summertime. May you have a delightful time as you slowly execute each and every task that you undertake this week.

Robert

Slow It Down

The mindfulness challenge this week is to slow everything down. Yes, this will take more time. I admit this is a consequence of the mindfulness challenge this week. While this week’s challenge will take more time than is the custom, slowing every task down will have a profound impact on your stress level. Try it. You will like it.

What do I mean when I say, “Slow it down?” If you are chopping up red peppers for a dinner, when I say slow it down I mean chop up those red peppers slowly and mindfully. If you are walking from the kitchen to the living room, when I say slow it down I mean to take each step one by one with mindful consciousness, planting one foot after the other using willful intention.

Slow down each and every task that you initiate this week – whatever the task entails – from opening up a car door and getting in, to simply going to the telephone and picking it up to answer a call.

Many individuals who confront neurological challenges have a tendency to push up against any and all tasks. This persistent forcing and pushing fertilizes stress in the body. Because the nature of neurological challenges means that you must some how slow down activities, a war is declared against the enemy of getting tasks done efficiently and effortlessly. If we can’t get it done in a timely fashion, just push through it by God. This activates stress levels and incites symptoms.

Reverse that tendency. End that battle now. It is only making the symptoms worse because it feeds your stress level.

Slow down each and every activity. Enjoy and relish what it means to open up the door to your car, what it means to walk from the kitchen to the living room, what it means to actually cut a red pepper.

To succeed with the challenge to slow tasks down you must plan ahead. Give yourself at least twice if not three times as much time to accomplish each task. If you are a person who tends to plan out each day, if you are a person who makes a list of activities that must be accomplished, reduce the length of that list in half. Give yourself plenty of time to accomplish each and every task that you have chosen to engage in.

Notice the profound impact slowing down has on your stress level and be sure to notice what happens to your symptoms. Celebrate the miracle of what it means to be mindful with what you do and how you do it, moment to moment.

Robert

Deeper Meaning Behind Becoming Aware of Space

What is the deeper meaning behind the mindfulness challenge this week of paying attention to the space that surrounds objects? The implications of this exercise are actually profound.

We spend our lives focusing our attention on the physical objects that we see in front of our eyes. We believe that is all there is. Our perceptions guide us to believe that what we think to be physical is solid. We misinterpret the reality of that physical object; we unconsciously believe that it is packed with molecules that are nested together, side by side.

The reality is that any physical object is actually composed of far, far, far more space than the physical aspects of its configuration. I am even here talking about solid objects such as steel and rocks that we typically think are compacted physically. They are not.

This is also true of our bodies. We think of our bodies as pretty solid in their configuration and constitution. The reality is there is far, far, far more space in our bodies than matter in the form of tissues and cells that have a physical form.

When we look at our physical world we believe that anything which exists takes on a solid, physical form. We believe that in our bodies we are solidly one; when in fact, the space that occupies our bodies constitutes far, far, far, far more of what we are than the physical aspect of our being.

We tend to get attached to certain objects and possessions. For example, many of us have animals; we get attached to those animals and we feel as though that is largely what constitutes joy in our life – our animals, the love and compassion that they return to us that is unqualified. And yet, the reality is even within the space of those animals there is a significant universe we never see or acknowledge.

When we begin to observe space, then, we open up our awareness to the reality that there is an existence far beyond the reality of our own limited perceptions. This is particularly important when it comes to thought forms. You see, we tend to attach ourselves to specific thoughts,

“I’m not good enough.”
“I haven’t accomplished enough.”
“People don’t appreciate who I am or what I am.”
“I’m really not able to manifest what it is that I have always dreamed of manifesting.”
“I wanted to be a piano player. I can never do that now because my fingers are too rigid.”
“I wanted to be a singer but I can’t do that now because my voice is horse and soft”
Et cetera. Et cetera.

These thoughts all limit us. We do this to ourselves.

Think of the space beyond that. Think of the thoughts that are potential thoughts beyond those limiting thoughts. It really opens up endless possibilities and hope for the future. The space, the universe, the realities out there that we are unaware of are limitless.

This is a new time for everyone. This is a time in the universe and in the world that is unprecedented. We are seeing change in the world that is miraculous.

Be open to the space that you have not acknowledged heretofore and watch all of your stress over what you cannot accomplish or enjoy dissolve minute by minute, day by day, week by week. Stress cannot exist when we hold the reality in our consciousness that endless possibilities exist.

Robert

Space

The mindfulness challenge this week has far reaching implications. My challenge for this week is to become more aware of space. We typically focus our attention on objects, on their physicality. For example, if we’re sitting at a table, we are focused on the physical aspects and character of the table and all of the surroundings: the chairs around the table, the objects on the table, trinkets that may be sitting on top of other tables that are nearby. In other words, when we look, we see the physical objects that occupy the space that engulfs us, not the space itself.

Switch that habit. Switch your channel of attention this week. Focus instead on the space around the objects. One of the ways to do this exercise (and to discover the power of its hidden implications) is to focus on the leaves or the branches of a tree. We typically only look at the branches themselves. As you look at trees this week, redirect the focus of your attention to the space between the leaves or the branches. You will have to stand still for a few minutes to pull this observational task off.

Look at the space that surrounds objects and you will be amazed at how your consciousness shifts. Be aware of space everywhere as you go through your week, day in and day out.

May you have a delightful and exciting time becoming more aware of the many wonders of the world. There are millions more wonders than seven!

Robert