Take Five. Anywhere. Anytime.

 How many times have you walked into a room with your body but left your mind elsewhere? 

Perhaps you were heading into a meeting with colleagues but still thinking about a difficult conversation with your partner; or maybe as you were sitting down to dinner with family, your mind was racing with worry. Our minds have the ability to think and plan for the future and also, reminisce and review what has happened in the past. This ability serves us in many ways, but it can also hijack us from staying fully present in the moment.

De-stress with a simple breathing practice.

Moments of transition present us with an opportunity to pause and arrive to the moment right in front of us. TAKE FIVE is a quick grounding practice, to do just that. Simply take five breaths to connect the body and mind together, notice how you feel and set an intention to experience what is happening in the moment. About to sit down to dinner? Taking five breaths can open your heart to set the intention to listen and laugh. Preparing for an important meeting? Taking five breaths can give you a little space to focus on what you want to communicate.

Have little ones at home that are struggling to regulate their feelings? Try TAKE FIVE. It can become a counting game that you can do together as a tool to help them when their world has turned upside down.

Need proof? Try these suggestions.

• Next time you are getting ready to meet your friends online, pause to TAKE FIVE and notice what is present for you. Is there something you want to share that makes you feel anxious? Invite your friends to explore this practice with you by doing TAKE FIVE together or by playing this recording.
• Heading to the grocery store? Give yourself space to take 5 slow breaths before walking into the store. Notice your surroundings, both inner and outer and acknowledge that whatever you are feeling is OK.
• Preparing for your nighttime routine? Create space between your daytime busyness and your evening plans with TAKE FIVE. It’s both a calming and restorative practice. Just sit at the edge of your bed with one hand on your lap, and your palm facing up. Each time you take a full cycle of breath, fold one finger down. Once all 5 fingers are folded, take a moment to notice how you feel. The stage is now set for you to enjoy your downtime.

Sprinkle your day with TAKE FIVE and get in touch with your feelings.

Over time, checking in with yourself throughout the day with TAKE FIVE breathing practice can help build compassionate understanding of the ups and downs of daily life. It's okay to feel anxious, sad, angry, happy, neutral or lonely. The better able you are at identifying what you are feeling in any given moment, the better able you will be at taking care of yourself, no matter what shows up.

 

This post was originally published on the Mindfulness Without Borders blog.

TOUCHEYS CUBE - Your Multi-Textured Way to Mindfulness

One Cube - Six Unique Elements! Touch, relax, focus, relieve stress and anxiety, meditate or simply fidget. Give it a Touch!

Story

Sometimes we all need a way to slow down, relax and focus, reduce stress and anxiety. Our Toucheys Cube helps with that by engaging with our sense of Touch.   

All the different textures provide an ultimately satisfying experience to palm and fidget with, but also with Toucheys Cube you can practice Mindfulness using what we call the Texture Flow. Feel the differences and changes in the textures which engages our attention and focus, calms and relaxes. 

Using objects for Meditation is an ancient trick, so what is our twist? Toucheys Cube features Six unique elements - handmade, natural and contrasting textures, which fit into just one small cube.  

Toucheys Cube is safe and lots of fun for kids. It can be used both as natural tactile development toy and for kids meditation routines!

WHY TOUCHEYS CUBE?   

 Last but not the least, Toucheys Cube is an amazing gift for someone, who might be interested in mindfulness or your kid. 

Back this project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/561207491/toucheys-cube-your-multi-textured-guide-to-mindfulness#utm_source=4&utm_medium=4&utm_campaign=4

Wordless Wednesday #116

Today the sky spoke my "mind."

At times I was blank. Sometimes I had a cluster of thoughts while there were moments when there was just one thought that expanded like a flowchart and confused me further!

Best of all...I was mindful of the above!

Mantra for today: With mindfulness, you can establish yourself in the present in order to touch the wonders of life that are available in that moment.

Nhat Hanh

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A World Remade

I woke up with a jolt and was sweating profusely.

Woah! I force my eyes open, as I grab a glass of water and force it down my dry throat, not realizing how parched I was when the first sip went in.

Something strange was happening, I wanted to take in immediate gulps but could not. The water was quite warm for me to take mouthfuls thus, had to linger the process.

Curious, since the water was lying at room temperature, and the first few sips were cool, then how did the water turn warm?

Confused and perplexed, I placed the glass on the table and noticed my heated palms. The first instance was to touch the back side of my hand to my forehead.

Nah! not warm.

But, still went ahead and thrust a thermometer under the tongue. After a minute or two, I took out to see that it was normal.

My hands still warm like a ball of fire, but the body exhibiting average temperature.

What is happening?

The above scenario was enough to disorient me mentally.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep? I lay down, but something was not right. Pulled out my favorite book, which was in tatters.

"Aah! I wish I could revive this old book of mine," was my instant thought.

What did I notice?

The touch of my fingers to the book restored the torn worn out pages. It turned into a brand new book. My eyes were as wide as could be.

Baffled, I walked around my room and touched things needing restoration, and voila, with my intention made it new.

I stared at the palms of my hand, as they emitted the warmth to me. Just then, I sighted my globe.

Went towards it with the intention to build a new world that would make all living creatures live a mindful life. As my hands surrounded the earth, I set in my intention, and I could feel the radiance warm up the entire globe like a ball of fire.

Mindful living, if creeped into civilization of today; will help us differentiate between right and wrong, thanks to the conscious within us, which usually gets coated with dust cause of the pandemonium kind of lifestyle we live in, which usually involves I- Me-Myself. 

My hands were in that position for quite some time until I let it go.

Tired and fatigued I took a few sips of water and called it a night.

My eyes opened to soothing melodious chirps of the birds. That stunned me cause I usually hear the blaring horns of vehicles thus muting the chirps of these flying animals.
The thought that today would be the strike of public transportations made me jump out of bed in fright cause the fear of how to get to work, gave me the jitters.

Peeped outside to see normalcy.

Strange!

I got ready, and stepped out of my home to see a cordial nod and a gentle smile by my neighbor who used to have a snooty face all the time. This act surprised me, but I was quick to reciprocate.

Hailed a taxi, who was very courteous in driving, and I did not hear him swear even once. That raised my eyebrows, tipped him generously more so since he admitted his meter was off and that he intends to fix it so that he could charge the right amount.

With all the drama happening at night, I was late for work and expected my manager to give me a cold attitude. Went to apologize to which she  nodded, sympathized with me, and wanted me start the day with no regrets.

I gulped.

Work was unusual that day. With deadlines around the corner, anxiety was on the rise, but I was observing my manager now and then, who was very appreciative of our work and kept uttering thankful mantras.

Lunch time, I browsed through the net for the local news, and was shocked to read news that were pertaining to either welfare, sustaining, service, support, assistance. This made me double check the website address since thought I went to an NPO page.

That positive surrounding gave me the extra boost to work over time and give in my best shot. Result: productivity was high, and the goal was achieved.

It was past ten, and I got the quivers with the thought of going home alone. Somehow the day's positivity still seemed to stagger around. Thus, making me walk into a taxi and allow an unknown person to drive me home.

Reached untouched, and that made me breathe in a big puff due to relief.  Mind was still fresh, cause of the positive vibes around.

Felt satisfied, wholesome, and complete as a human being!

Wore the snooze cap, with the hope that this pattern of mindfulness continued the next day.

To have a smooth life without hardships will not make mankind mature. However, if his surroundings could become friendly, cordial, sympathetic, and helpful. It will help the journey go steady till he breathes his last.

Thanks to my intentions, this new world is all about vigilant living. People are aware of their actions, deeds, speech, that it makes them step back if they have been irrational, wrong or loony.

Mantra for today: Mindful living can contribute to creating a benevolent world. All it needs is; us to pause, and think of the actions performed.

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“I am participating in the #TheWorldRemade activity at BlogAdda in association with India Today #Conclave15 “.