The Mindfulness Blog

In 1965 (yes, there was electricity then) Len Barry recorded a simple song that I recently started humming to myself, seemingly out of sky blue--but was it? Out of sky blue, that is.

Simple. Secular. Scientific. That's my current version of 1-2-3, and you know what? It really works (though I need to be reminded, once in a while). Mindfulness and meditation are to mental/emotional fitness, what workout sessions or exercise classes are to physical fitness. Conditioning is key, and consistency is critical. We get out of either, or both, only as much as we put into them.

But how can we possibly find time for yet another discipline, in addition to everything else we already do? Time pressure aside, changing our daily routine--changing our behavior-- is a devilishly difficult thing to do. And, as if those two things aren't enough, what about the competing demands of our friends and family?

Well, as for the last two concerns, the answer is: It's on you. If mindfulness and meditation are important, then you'll already have figured out whether and how to incorporate them into your life-- that's a decision that only we can make, for ourselves. As for the last of those three concerns (how, and when to do it), I've got an idea you might consider.

Maybe try tacking on, or taking a few minutes out of, the time we've already made for our physical exercise? If we break a sweat early in the morning, exercise instead of taking lunch in a restaurant or workout before dinner, maybe we can take the last 5 minutes to cool down and sit silently in stillness, listening to the sound of our breath as it returns to normal? Maybe sensing how good it feels to sweat, and how the body responds to rest?

If we care enough to make time for caring for our body, we really ought to also make time for caring for our mind. Self-care is not self-ish.

That's how elementary it can be-- simple as 1-2-3!