Mindfulness in Daily Life

Before we start a yoga class, we usually do a chant or meditation to ground our mind and concentrate on the practice coming after. I see meditating before a yoga class as a ritual, through which I empty my mind for the duration of a class and set the intention of my practice.

When we talk about meditation, what usually comes to our mind is the seated pose with eyes closed in a quiet place. The meditation I am going to talk about is the one in our daily life. Nowadays, with social media, it is almost impossible to be away from digital devices. Our mind finds it so hard to concentrate that when we sit in a chair, the first thing we think of is: did anyone like my post 20 minutes ago? Ah no, 20 minutes is already too long—more like 5 minutes ago. It feels unbearable not to check the status of the post for that long. When we pick up our books and start reading where we left off, our logical mind is reading the words, but none of them make sense because we are wondering what our friends are up to on Instagram. After one paragraph, we put down the book and pick up the phone again…

This morning, after I finished cooking my lunch, I laid the dishes on the dinner table. I was about to turn on my TV, but then I decided not to. I told myself, let’s focus on the food this time. I felt the itch in my heart to have some distractions while I eat, but I convinced myself to give it a try anyway. For the first time in a while, I am giving myself the space and time to pay attention to the food in front of me. Instead of rushing to finish it and swallow it, I used my chopsticks to pick up one piece of meat at a time and chew slowly, with the voice in my head saying not to rush. It’s a weird feeling, to be honest. A lot of thoughts come up when I eat—sometimes it’s about the news I read earlier, other times it’s about what I am going to accomplish later at work.

I suddenly realised this is also a meditation—another kind of meditation. How we sit ourselves down and focus on whatever we are currently doing, and pay attention to the thoughts that pass by while we are physically doing something else.

I understand that people come to Chiang Mai to seek peacefulness and join a Vipassana workshop, because the environment does have some effect on our mental state. Being away from the noise or routines sometimes can make a difference. That said, we do not need to sit down in a temple and close our eyes to meditate. By concentrating on whatever we are doing, it’s already a way of meditating.

Just try to observe all the bits flying around your head and take them down piece by piece, and organise them. Once you do that, you come to a state of stillness and awareness.