Guest blog by Brock Martin, Mindful Movement Teacher, National Child Research Center (NCRC) / Preschool, Washington DC, USA
When and how does mindfulness practice show up in your day?
I view mindfulness like a light switch – you can choose to turn it on / off. As the day goes on, it’s so much easier to turn it off and get lost in my thoughts or some other distraction that takes me from the present moment. I constantly have to make a conscious choice throughout the day to turn the switch on and come back to the present moment. I do this by tuning in and being intentional with my breath, noticing a physical sensation, taking in my surroundings, or simply being present with a child – engaging with them in real time. When I drift into my thoughts, I try my best to be aware of this and acknowledge that I am making this choice. I love the analogy of a “thought bus” or “cloud” and I try my best to view my passing thoughts with this lens. Sometimes mindfulness shows up more formally in my day. Every morning I dedicate around 30 minutes to go through a series of yoga poses that allow me to stretch, prepare my body and breath for the day, and just check in with myself and how I’m feeling physically. Sometimes I slip into autopilot and go through the motions but I try my best to stay present with my body or breath. I follow this practice with a seated meditation that takes on different forms depending on how I’m feeling energetically. Sometimes I do a calming breathing practice where I focus on the counting of my breath and where I feel it in my body. Sometimes I do a more strenuous breathing exercise for strength & focus. Other times I just sit and talk to myself. If done with attention and by choice, they can all nourish me in different ways.
If you reflect back on the day, where are the moments you have awareness of choices?
When making choices throughout my day I try my best to tune in to what feels right when responding. When I am in a state of reacting, I tend to feel a sense of discomfort – there’s a bit of tension in my body, my heart beats a little faster, and I may feel a little flush. My biggest indicator however is a tingling sensation at the top of my head. That’s usually a clue that I need to pause, tune in with my breath, and allow things to unfold a bit more before responding. When I’m responding it’s usually because there’s a sense of ease and choices feel natural – there’s a sense of flow. I try my best to stay fluid in this current of waiting to respond versus reacting. Sometimes I have to make choices about the future, etc… In these moments I have to really dig into my practice to wait and respond versus reacting. I know the future will unfold as it’s meant to unfold but I must notice the choices as they appear along the way that help bring this future to fruition. There is a real sense of surrender to the future. This can be really exciting but also daunting and practices that keep me in the present help me stay focused on the footsteps I’m currently taking that will take me where I need to go.
What about noticing after the moment; if you didn’t make skilful choices during the day?
In these moments, I rely heavily on reflection. I reflect on the choices I didn’t feel so comfortable about. Sometimes I write out what happened and other times I talk it out with someone. A lot of the time I participate in an internal dialogue or visualize what happened during moments of meditation. All avenues give me an opportunity to think about what happened, the choices that were made, and overall how it made me or others feel. I try and think about some of the other ways I could have responded and how everything feels, narrowing in on ways I should have responded. I try my best not to be too hard on myself knowing that skilful choices can now be made only after knowing what choices not to make. There is a real sense of learning that I welcome by bringing awareness to the less than perfect choices.
What’s your go to practice in the midst of a working day?
Coming back to my breath is my absolute go-to practice as well as choosing to be present with a child in the form of play or noticing together in the moment.
Coming back to my breath nourishes me and allows me to connect with myself while connecting with a child allows me to connect with something outside of myself.
What else supports your health and wellbeing?
In order to support my health and well-being I stretch and do yoga, swim, lift light weights, listen to music, clean, cook, and take hot showers. Being outside or in nature really fills my cup and playing in the ocean waves gives me life. Getting an appropriate amount of sleep and setting limits on screen time also support my wellbeing.
Being present with these activities makes them come to life in ways that feel good to me.
Call to action?
The purpose of life is to know who you are. First you must know what you are not. Practice being present, surrender to each moment as it comes, believe in yourself, and keep going. In time you will know true peace.
Our huge thanks to Brock for all his hard work and for sharing this with us.