Looking For Calm

“Morning is when I am awake and there is dawn in me…We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look…To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of the arts.”                                                      

                                                                                -Thoreau, Walden

This image was taken this morning as the sun came up. I was inside Beauvoir on my way to meet a teacher for a few minutes of quiet reflection and mindfulness. I stopped in my tracks as I stood at the top of the stairs and tried to soak in the beauty that I witnessed through this picture window. I dragged a chair over so that I could take a picture. The picture in no way comes close to capturing the splendor and beauty of this moment. I stood on the chair for close to a minute and may have remained there if not for feeling slightly self-conscious about teachers beginning to arrive for the day. They may have wondered why I was frozen there, standing on a chair, looking out through a window.

I love the morning and for those that know me well, I am typically asleep by 8:30 or 9 in the evening and up early because I cherish the quiet. My first smell and taste of coffee, time with our dog and just being alone and in quiet before the world wakes up. Going out for a morning run or class when the city still sleeps is a gift to me. I find that the days where I can formally practice mindfulness for five minutes or twenty-five, are the mornings that I feel most connected to myself, and when I feel most at peace with all that will confront me each day. Jon Kabat-Zinn writes in his book, Wherever You Go, There You Are, “By grounding yourself in mindfulness early in the morning, you are reminding yourself that things are always changing, that good and bad things come and go, and that it is possible to embody a perspective of constancy, wisdom, and inner peace as you face any conditions that present themselves. Making the daily choice to wake up early to practice is an embodiment of this perspective.”Zinn goes on to say that it is the spirit that counts not the time spent. “Even five minutes of mindfulness practice in the morning can be valuable.”

While Kabat-Zinn and many other teachers of mindfulness advocate for beginning our day with practice, there might be a different rhythm to you and your day. Perhaps you are a night owl and enjoy the stillness of the evening. What might carving out 5,10,15  minutes each night look like for you where you do not “do anything” and simply be for the sake of being? What impact might this have on you for letting go of your day and the stresses, complications, annoyances and complexities? Might this time spent quieting your mind and being connected to your heart also allow you to savor moments like my view through the picture window.

Or perhaps you are someone that can successfully carve out some quiet moments at work, home or school (not likely) but possibly. What would it feel like to take 5,10,25 minutes and go out into the air for a walk once a day (perhaps even twice), get out of your head, and practice your breathing? Or sip a cup of tea in the quiet without reaching for your to do list. We can go through an entire day and sometimes several without having an awareness of what we feel in our bodies. Taking just a minute to bring awareness to sensations that you have in your feet or your hands or bringing a curiosity to tension that you feel in your shoulders or your lower back is practicing mindfulness. We have between 60,000-80,000 thoughts in our individual head each day. And many would argue that western society spends far too much time in their heads and not enough in their hearts.

“The landscape is where your intuition lies. It’s the source of that little voice that guides you, if you let it. Without practice, it’s hard to hear your heart. The chattering monkey mind speaks so loudly, sending you in different directions without an overall purpose. The monkey makes it hard to hear the heart.” (simplemindfulness.com)

I do not confess to have the answers just many more questions. I find there can be an ebb and flow to mindfulness practice just as there is to many things we practice in life. I do know, however that I find peace in moments like the one I experienced looking through the window earlier today. They serve as gentle reminders for what really matters- a glorious dawn, an outstretched hand, a warm embrace, someone listening intently to you, a home in which to live, or the love of family and friends.