Category: Mindfulness Challenge for the Week

My gentle yet profound invitation this week is to take close and careful notice of trees.

•     What is their shape?
•     Are they tall?
•     Are they short?
•     Are they fat?
•     Are they skinny?
•     Is the tree you happen to be noticing in the moment shaggy?
•     Is it sculptured in shape much like a Christmas tree?
•     What is the height of the tree that your eyes now gaze on?

Notice the branching. Notice in particular the color of the tree, the color of the leaves, the color of the bark and the texture of the bark.  Notice the type of foliage that emanates from the trunk of this most magnificent tree that you chose to gaze at.

Of course you can’t inspect each tree that you see with any great seriousness. Perhaps you might spend some time this week sitting under a tree and doing just that.  As you walk and as you drive however, devote your attention to taking quite seriously the challenge of taking in the magnificence of the trees that you pass by. They exude a life force of immense power.

In some cases becoming mindful of trees will be a fleeting notice at best. In other situations – perhaps on a walk – invite yourself

1.     to stop
2.     to turn
3.     to look
4.     to take in

the most magnificent presence of the tree that happens to call out to you in the moment.

If you live in an area where there are few tall and magnificent trees – perhaps a desert –  choose sagebrush or grass or bushes instead of trees for the mindfulness challenge of the week. Trees are not required.

Whether your focus is on trees or sagebrush – take their full essence in. Notice them with your eyes, ears and nose. Trees are a miracle on earth that we take for granted.

•     Reverse the habit of taking trees for granted.
•     Acknowledge their magnificence and their divinity.

After all, we share the sacred space of the earth side by side along with them.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery

 

You are cordially invited to pursue a Vision Quest this week.  What in the world do I mean by a Vision Quest?  The Vision Quest I propose is not about going out into the forest and sitting in a circle for four days without food or water. So, stay with me on this one. The Vision Quest I have in mind is actually simple to do, yet profound.

The Vision Quest that I propose for you to explore this week was inspired by Darlene Cohen who is a well-known author and an expert in helping individuals cope with chronic illness. Darlene suggested in an interview that I did with her several years ago that one of the ways she was successfully able to cope with her chronic illness was to take in the full senses wherever she happened to be.  She would look at and take in every detail that she could find in whatever place she happened to find herself.  This, as it turned out, expanded her awareness. It helped her become more mindful of being present in the moment.  Whatever pain in the physical body might have been present simply fades away into the sunset.

The Vision Quest for this week is very simply designed and simple to do. It can potentially have profound implications on your ability to maintain centeredness and balance and on your ability moment-to-moment to maintain a stress-free body.

The Vision Quest Challenge

Whenever you sit down – and it does not matter where you sit – the challenge for the week is to look around from wherever you are sitting and find something that you have not noticed before and look at it. Take in its full essence. That is it folks.

We get accustomed to our routines.  We walk from our bedroom as we are getting up to  the kitchen. Many of us prepare either a cup of hot tea or coffee and then we sit down at a table, at a chair or perhaps in front of our computer or television.  We do not really look anywhere because out routine is so habitual. We do not take in the beauty and nuances of our environment.  Our minds are somewhere else. Our body simply runs through a rat maze day after day, missing all the beauty that surrounds us.

The challenge of the week is to expand your awareness through sight.  Every time you sit down, trigger an awareness that says,

“Wait.  I just found myself sitting down.  I’m now going to look around where I am at and find something that perhaps I really haven’t noticed before.  Or, if I’ve noticed everything that I see here where I am sitting, let me really intensely look at something that I haven’t taken the opportunity to appreciate.”

Expanding awareness through greater vision is one of the powerful techniques for becoming more mindful, more centered, more aware in the moment and more grounded.

Every time you sit down, immediately look to see something you haven’t noticed before.  You may spend only five or ten seconds looking.  You may spend several minutes or perhaps even longer taking in the texture, the color and the essence of what you are looking at.

Break out of the hamster wheel routine of how you normally sense the world that surrounds you. When you sit, set into motion a new way of presenting yourself to the world. Allow its essence to penetrate every cell of your body. Look at familiar objects and sights with fresh eyes.

Enjoy your vision quest this week.  Each time you sit, find something new to notice. Stay focused on the purpose here: When stress is eliminated, symptoms wither away.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery