Being present in a busy world: 5 minute meditiation – {Quiet – #amonthof creative moments}
It is quite in my house at the moment, husband at work, Bella at school nursery and Will at pre-school.
I have one and a half hours to myself once I have done the drop offs and before I need to leave again to pick my small people up again.
It is this time that I cherrish so much as for the past four and a bit years life has been non-stop and very loud!
It’s not the most easiest thing, being a mum and being a stay-at-home mum means that I get very little space and time away from the constantness that is two young children. I have to admit that I have had my ups and downs on this journey of motherhood and I have learned over the years that I need to just steal a minute or two of quiet time.
This is what I do:
- find a space, a seat, somewhere, anywhere.
- sit with your back tall, as if you are being pulled up by the top of your head.
- plant your feet firmly on the floor and feel that connection.
- breath in, deeply, what can you smell?
- still your breathing, what can you hear?
- look around you, colours, shapes, what can you see?
- clench your hands, open them up, what can you feel?
- have you just eaten something, what can you taste?
- breath again, feel everything, be thankful you are here.
A little sketch of what I can sense just sitting here in my dinning room. What can you sense where you are right now?
This exercise does not take long, I do not use it every day, but I do on those days that are a struggle. Sit on your bed, the edge of the bath, the sofa, one of the kids beds, a dinning chair or even the toilet! It has made such a difference to me to be mindful of all I can sense and to be thankful I am here to experience life (even if it is loud, chaotic and never goes to plan).
What do you do when you have time to yourself?
Do you have any techniques to find a little bit of quiet in a busy day?
I hope you have quiet time today,
For now,
Catherine
I use a mindfulness method similar to this. After learning the technique via my CBT course, I find that now, I don’t even realise that I’m doing it. Even though I didn’t finish the course, mindfulness has been one of the lasting side effects of that journey. It’s helped me to become a more patient person and most importantly, to slow down once in a while.
Great to hear that you do something like this too
patience is certainly needed with a house full of pre-schoolers/toddlers! It’s such a shame you had to stop the course but good to hear that at least you have managed to take something away from it. There is certainly nothing wrong with slowing down once in a while 
x
Catherine, I love the drawings, they’re brill! I did a mindfulness course too & found a very similar exercise really helpful. Sometimes it’s nice just to remind yourself that you’re here – to ‘check in’ and notice things around you. So many times I’ve found myself halfway to somewhere, maybe walking the kids to school, and I realise I haven’t even looked up and seen the sky or noticed what the weather is doing…. I have to remind myself to wake up to whatever’s going on around me, then once I’ve done that, I find that I calm down and manage with my day a lot easier
With love, Claire x
Hehe, so glad you like them, they are no where near as good as yours! But, it was quite fun getting the pens out, practice makes perfect.
it really is helpful to notice the everyday things surrounding us.
Having this blog really helps me look out for the things around me, just incase there is a good photo opportunity
Love to you too x