WHY YSK- Many people practice mindfulness and meditation as part of their lives, and some would like to but feel like they don’t have time to sit down and meditate properly. Once you’ve gotten used to doing it as a part of your daily activities, it becomes easy to simply take a few breaths and gain some peace from your everyday existence. You don’t need to wait for a time when you can sit and clear your mind completely. It’s a nice bonus, but not necessary for living a mindful life.
I’m sure it’s different for everyone. For me, it’s about recognizing that every day is a gift and I should do what I can to acknowledge the beauty that is around me. My body, my home that shelters me, my family and friends, my city and surrounding state… it’s all beautiful and all I have to do is take a few moments throughout each day to take it in while focusing on my breath.
I meditate while walking or cooking most days. I have a system for walking, where I know how many breaths I normally take while walking and breathing at a slow but steady pace. I start on the left foot and breath in, then switch to exhaling always on the right foot at the right amount of steps. It takes some practice but the whole point of it is to get some exercise and take in the scenery while breathing and focusing on your breath in the background of your mind. I live in a cold area, so when I first learned this I even used it as a method to walk around the house and pick things up that need to be put away since I oculdn['t get outside much.
When I’m cooking I enjoy the process and do it like the article I posted, letting my mind wander if it needs to for a few minutes and then bringing it back to my body and breath for a few seconds, and focusing on the food again. Cooking is something I love to do, so it’s easy to meditate while focusing on the aromas and the colors and just in the background of my brain making sure my breathing is even.