What mindfulness enables for me
Beant Kaur Dhillon
Embodiment Coach | Sr. UX Research & Usability Consultant | Author & artist
We were out for a picnic in the park. It was a hot and sticky kind of spring afternoon. Ducks were swimming past us, mosquitos were buzzing around my head, and I was too tired to do anything other than lie on the mat, but my head was too active to rest. This happens often to me.
So to give my mind something to do, I drew this leaf and my headphones. Like giving a child something to color so the adult can rest :D.
As I slowly drew the curved, drunk looking lines (my favorite kind of lines to draw), I came back to the moment - to the leaf in my hand and the headphones next to me. This was a delicious way of slowing down. And this is what mindful drawing brings to my life - being in the present moment and living it, instead of running to the past or the future.?
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Why does mindfulness matter?
I started practicing mindfulness regularly around 5-6 years ago. And here are some things that it enables in my life.
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Is drawing the only way to be mindful?
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Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, and the author writes in his book How to Relax,?
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Mindfulness is always mindfulness of something. We can be mindful of our breath, our footsteps, our thoughts, and our actions. Mindfulness requires that we bring all our attention to whatever we’re doing, whether we’re walking, breathing, brushing our teeth, or eating a snack. To be mindful is already to be awakened.
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This means we can be mindful at any moment, so try different ways to see what works for you. I have tried different ways, and drawing from real life works really well for me. Another way that works well is the 54321 exercise that I shared here.?
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If you want to try mindful drawing, below are some tips. You can also sign-up here for the Thankful Drawing Call next week.
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How do I practice mindful drawing?
Observing and drawing our inner or outer world is a great way of being present.?
To draw from observation, we need to pay attention to what we are drawing and trace the lines based on what we see rather than what we think we see. This gets better and better with practice and we get more mindful as we continue.
Some things that help with mindful drawing for me are:
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See some of you next week :) and Thank you!
Beant
Ways we can work together
That embodiment writer and author | Non-fiction book coach | In 6 sessions you will know exactly what to do to get your book out of your body and into the world | Ready to write your book master plan?
2 年I really love this - not just your illustration, but the motion involved with this mindfulness practice. I recently was given an assignment by my music teacher to couple improvisation with inhalation and exhalation, and to remove the pressure to make things complex. So freeing. So difficult. So motivating, or rather, I am looking forward to my mindfulness practice today! Thank you for being you, Beant Kaur Dhillon