The practice of mindfulness

 

Mindfulness as a 'work around' ...

I've been thinking a lot about the role of mindfulness and resilience these last few months. For the first time in my, comparatively long life, I've been dealing with recurring illness that has altered some lifestyle choices. I have NOTHING to complain about--I realize this! I'm still able to live in my favorite place in all the world with my favorite person and our critter-kids, and still love to put words and stories together, and still continue my life-long love of learning. I do practice gratitude--even when hauling water buckets to the horses is not the easy job it once was ... and when I must now rely on others to haul and stack hay bales in the barn. Puck, my bay gelding has grown too tall for me to mount (I think my lanky and lazy horse is secretly quite pleased about that, by the way) and I seriously gauge the level of tinnitus in my left ear before taking on any extra stress. 

Yes, life has demanded some modifications--'work arounds' is my vocabulary for figuring out new ways to do old tasks that required more youthful strength and stamina. 

Seriously. I have benches and mounting blocks spaced strategically all over our farm.  

Mindfulness has become a friend to me and my journey of resilience.

There is nothing more resilient than watching tiny rose clippings root and begin to grow their own lives. Or a chopped-down tree sending up shoots from a sawed off stump. 

And, I think the definition of resilience when you look it up in the dictionary should simply be a photo of a dandelion breaking through cement and thriving in a concrete jungle.

photo credit: https://abolg.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/dandelion/

To me, mindfulness practice is as simple and as frequent as stopping, breathing, feeling the ground under my feet, the wind on my face, and hearing through my ears and my hands, the dog at my side, the horse beside me, or the chicken scratching the soil in front of me. Mindfulness is stopping to grin at the goats peering out of their window at me. Mindfulness is admiring the vigor of a growing tomato plant. Mindfulness is anything that centers me into the present moment. From there, resilience becomes a choice, and work arounds become an intriguing puzzle rather than a relentless scramble, juggling losses. 

Mindfulness may be different for you, and I've captured some thoughts of others more in the know about the practice of mindfulness below. But for me ... 

Mindfulness and resilience are two bookends holding space for a joyful life.