Recently I was in a yoga class and during the beginning part, the instructor asked us to pay attention to our breathing - to how the air felt going in and down our throats. I'd never noticed before. It was interesting to pay attention to that.
I like paying attention. I live in my head a lot, so I take time every day to go for a walk. This gets me away from the everyday things that might irritate me if I paid too much attention to them -the dirty dishes, the pile of laundry, etc. Instead, I go outside and I notice the sky, what's on the road, how Doug's field smells, the air temperature on my skin, the sound of the creek. Still, I often get distracted by the things in my head and need to bring myself back to noticing again. The acorns on that fallen branch, the smell of the wet cedars, the suspicious way the cows are looking at me and Pepper, what is blooming in the south ditch.
Noticing has helped me pull out of emotional spirals, has helped me get into my body and out of my head. It has helped me look at the universe and appreciate what is in it a little more fully. Those experiences are always positive [at least they are never negative] and they have little emotional content that is difficult for me to deal with.
Rick Hanson, in his wonderful book, Hardwiring Happiness, uses 'noticing' as the first step in his HEAL technique.
- Have an experience. Notice.
- Enhance the experience. Notice all that's wonderful about it. Make it big and wonderful.
- Absorb the experience. Take 10 seconds and just let that goodness sink in.
- Link that experience to others.
I have found this to be a wonderful way to build a collection of positive experiences that fill my head and heart with positivity instead of anxiety and negativity.
Take a moment now to get away from what is bothering you so you can just notice the other things around you, or go for a walk and look around. What did you notice today? I'd love to know.
I'd like to invite you to join our Best Self facebook group where we can talk freely about becoming our best selves - and all the messy work that entails. In addition, I have another group, The Well Balanced Artist, for creatives of all kinds and in all stages of their creative lives, who are trying to balance their art, business and personal lives.
