Hi everyone. Happy New Year to you all! I’m happy to read Linda has given #JusJoJan another go and I’m going to try to participate again. Today’s prompt is “mindfulness”, which really speaks to me.
When I first learned about mindfulness, I was in dialectical behavior therapy for my emotion regulation issues. All I remember of it at the time were rather abstract concepts like imagining your thoughts are like clouds in the sky. I couldn’t put these concepts into practice at all. I mean, observing my thoughts felt so completely alien to me. Same for mindful breathing exercises. I’ve tried them, a zillion times, mind you, but I always end up being distracted.
Then, a few weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast episode of one of the ADHD podcasts I listen to occasionally. Not that I have a diagnosis of ADHD, but I relate to many of its traits. The episode was about seven different kinds of rest. In it, the podcaster described seven different ways of rest that we all need, including physical rest, mental rest, spiritual rest, etc. None of these in her particular experience involved napping. Also, by doing just one activity, the podcaster said you could be resting in more than one way.
For example, she mentioned going on a walk and, while on her walk, being conscious of every red thing she saw. This is mindfulness in a totally different respect than imagining your thoughts are clouds. It totally spoke to me!
Now of course I’m totally blind so counting or naming red objects doesn’t work for me. But I’m sure the same principle can be applied to sounds or any of the other senses. I’m going to give it a try when I next go on a walk.
A Multitude of Musings 
I like that way of looking at mindfulness, it works! ❤
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Thank you! Me too, it’s a lot more practical this way.
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I think it would definitely work with sounds
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Thanks for the encouragement. Maybe something with observing birdsong would be the hearing-based version of this. Not that I could recognize the different birds.
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Maybe not but I think there’s an app that would recognise them for you but whether it’s been adapted for the visually impaired I don’t know.
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A birdsong recognition app? Sure! There’s probably an accessible one indeed. Then again using an app could destroy the idea of mindfulness.
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Surprisingly, paying attention, moving, and breathing can all lead to that gently lit-up state of mindfulness.
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That’s true indeed.
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Yeah, my therapist wanted me to imagine feelings on leaves floating down a stream or on boxcars as you look down from a bridge as the train goes by. I could do it, but I never really saw how it helped much. This kind of focus might be more calming to me as well. Thanks for sharing the information!
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Thanks for sharing. I personally can hardly make mental images, so that may’ve been one reason I struggled with this particular exercise. I’m glad you found my post helpful.
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You are welcome.
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