Mindfulness. When you hear that word, what does it conjure up for you? Thoughts of silence and meditation? Singing bowls? Tingsha bells?
That’s always the way it was for me. And I’ll be honest. That doesn’t float my boat in any way.
I did try it once, but found it incredibly distracting. I’m definitely the type of person who needs background noise to concentrate, rather than silence. So yes, I decided mindfulness wasn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong – I have friends who meditate daily and have done for years, and I respect that. But it just wasn’t for me.
So now what?
Well, after I made that decision, I carried on as usual. My mind was full of work, school run, family commitments and various play dates, events and appointments. My mind was definitely full, but with hindsight, but it was literally that – a full mind – not mindfulness.
But I have to say – it didn’t particularly bother me. Things had always been that way. I was used to it. It was my ‘normal’.
However, with hindsight, I realise that this wasn’t such a good thing. I was stressed, tired and running from one thing to the next. All the time. But that’s just life, right? Especially when you’re a working mum.
A life in colour.
But then I went to Chloe’s Bullet Journal Workshop. I’ve already talked about that particular journey of discovery on another post, but as we’re talking about mindfulness, I wanted to tell you about a specific aspect of it.
When I was putting my Bullet Journal together, I came across a little colouring book. It was one of those little ones – full of swirly patterns, mandalas and so on.
So I decided to put a page in my journal.
And I realised that I actually quite like it. I had discovered a form of mindfulness that works for me.
Now I put a page in my journal each month, and my objective is to have it coloured in completely by the end of the given month. I never sit down for an hour and colour it in, in one sitting. I do a bit here. A bit there. But each time means that I stop. Even just for a few minutes. I focus on what I’m doing right there and then. Not everything else that needs my attention on a given day and time.
And what happens if I don’t get it coloured in by the end of the month? Well, I’m not allowed to ‘carry it over’. And that means I have an incomplete page in my journal – which frustrates me hugely – and I learn a lesson to do better at mindfulness and self-care in the month to come.
So what about you? Do you practise mindfulness? We’d love to hear your ideas and techniques.
And if you are keen to find out about other tools and techniques to support your wellbeing, mindset and mental health, check out our programme page.