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Meditation in action ∼ clear your mind by the holidays
The holiday season is just around the corner, the perfect time to go all out and practice meditation in action.
Take on our “Operation Clear-Up” challenge, boost your mindset for the holidays.
Spring is here, and we will soon be busy with the preparations for the Easter and Passover holidays, with its shopping and errands, the worries, the cooking, and especially the cleaning.
How do we make it through the season? we try not to overdo it, remember dust comes back, eat healthy and don’t miss out on sleep.
It is not enough to worry about keeping our body in balance, the burden of the holidays adding to our regular load brings about frustrations, stress, and fatigue.
What should we do? Take on our “Operation clear-up” challenge.
Practice meditation in action to release stress, maintain balance, and keep your peace of mind throughout the holidays.
Take our 21 day challenge
Why clear-up your mind? Because a clear mind feels right
Why is it so important to clear-up your mind from time to time?
Because like at home, if you don’t keep-up things pile up, the old on top of the new and the new on top of the old.
The more crowded our mind is the more cramped we feel, the less we see clearly.
Everything seems complicated and problematic, hence our impatience and dissatisfaction.
How important is our home space? How much time is spent on dusting and cleaning? How many times a year do you get rid of the outdated stuff in the closet?
It’s nice when everything around you is clean and airy, when our hard work produces nice results.
It feels like a small home-revolution.
Since we are already busying around for the holiday, we shall make the most of it.
We will endeavor to use this time to make a small-revolution in the house of our thoughts and emotions, our mind.
Where do we begin?
With our sensory system, the same that presents us with the reality we experience and influences the quality of our experience.
A clear mind ~ sharpen our senses
The reality we perceive through the senses, our window to the world; what we see, hear and perceive depends on our senses.
Our sensory system has its preferences, it points to what is pleasant, unpleasant and what does not matter.
It helps us determine what brings us satisfaction.
It is all dependent on memory ~ past experience
How does it feel that the windows in the house are stained with raindrops, dust and soot? How much light goes in? How bright does it look outside?
Our sensory system is like a mirror, if it is dusty, we won’t clearly see reality through it, and as a result we will experience a murky unattractive reality.
By making sure we are keeping a clearheaded mind, our experiences become clearer.
The clearer the experience, the more freedom we have to choose how we feel.
The responsibility for maintaining our mind is ours, no one can do it for us; at the end of the day our experience is ours alone.
Clearing-up your mind requires practice
Why Meditation in action? Because meditation in action is a method to clean-up the garbage that our mind has collected over time, the source of the noise inside.
A clear and clean mind allows us to pay attention to what we are doing, and naturally makes us perform better.
We want to experience satisfaction in the most trivial actions, in the moments we dedicate to house chores.
We want to experience the joy that comes when the job is well done.
When the mind is clear everything is “clearer”, life itself feels easier, less complicated, there is room for satisfaction.
“There is beauty and meaning in life only when the heart is cleansed of the things of the mind.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
Since the holidays are coming, we will make a wise use of the precious time that we dedicate to spring cleaning our home and practice meditation in action.
A clean house from inside and out ∼ Yin and Yang
Meditation is not limited to seating, it is possible and recommended to practice when engaged in daily activities, such as while washing dishes.
All that the practice requires us, is to be “with” the things we do, to be fully present with the action we are performing.
To be in the “here and now” in awareness of the action. This is Mindfulness, our being present and aware of the moment we’re experiencing.
Operation Clear-Up ~ Meditation in action
Every day until the eve of the holiday, for the next 21 days, before starting any household chore, we will remember that this particular action is dedicated to clearing our mind.
To the practice of meditation in action.
While we are sweeping, washing the floor, vacuuming, washing the windows or dusting, we will take the time to be one with the action.
Do not forget to put any electronic device in silent mode, it can wait, you deserve some quiet time!
Quality is preferable to quantity, even if it is a short action it counts.
The main thing is to remain connected, aware of things around you and not mind travelling up in the clouds.
Stay aware of the movements, the energy, the rhythm, the feelings and sensations that are arousing.
How? Remember that there is no pressure, take the time and work systematically, focus on what you are doing, check your breathing, withhold judgment.
Do not let your mind wander after thoughts of past and future, stay attentive to what you are doing, be one with the action you are busy doing.
If you wandered off, that’s OK, just bring back your attention on the action.
Enjoy Happy and blissful holidays.
Nathalie Bizawi, founder of Wisdom & Mindfulness meditation center. Senior Meditation, Mindfulness and philosophy instructor, From Wingate Academic College. M.A in Education from TAU University, Tel Aviv.
Wisdom & Mindfulness your meditation center in Tel Aviv.