In Reply to: Re: Mindfulness is just the feeling of being alive. posted by John on October 09, 1998 at 18:43:38:
Hi:
It's late and I shold be in bed but I decided to check in at the kindergarten before I turn in for the night. I will share more as time goes, but I jsut a couple of thoughts since my first posting.
At first I wasn't sure I was "awake". I think that reading some of theliterature on your site and on some others has helped to clarify it for me. It's knid of like distracting my "thinking" mind with an experience, at least that's what I feel.
I have been trying some of the exercises in the first few classes of the kindergarten. I couldn't seem to get into any pattern, except for washing dishes. TNH told a story about how to wash dishes and now when I go to wash them I try to just "experience" washing the dishes as opposed to what I have to do when they're done. I usually get distracted, but it's been a start. I also find that when I'm walking(alone) I will see different things, whether its the walls or lights in the hallway at the office, the shapes of the mountains on the drive to or from work, etc..
I also found a "mindful clock" on the net. I'm on the computer a lot at work so I put it on there. It rings a bell randomly during the day. When it does I try to concentrate on my breathing, my butt on the chair, mountain out my window, etc. for 10-15 seconds. Or as the person who wrote the program suggested, listen for when the sound of the bell actually ends and silence begins.
It's funny, I'm not sure what I expected out of all of this. I think maybe some "peace of mind", not so much to escape life, feelings, etc., but to "not get as "excited" when things at work aren't going "well", or the kids are doing the exact opposite of what I think they should be doing.
It seems that for those 10-15 seconds when the bell rings, its like a break. I kind of look forward to it ringing.
Thanks for the ideas about brushing the teeth etc. I will try some different things.
Enough for now, Jeff
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