I have chosen to share with you an intention at the beginning of each month through to the end of the year
An intention in the form of a word that I will carry with me through my days - a word that I get up with in the morning and that I bring with me as I go along, as I do, as I am. By choosing an intention, isn't it a bit like choosing to live less guided by our habits than by what we really want? Isn't it a bit like becoming active in this practice of presence and self-observation that follows - by the same process, to choose not to be subjected but to live more intentionally?
This series of intention will reveal what will guide my decisions in the coming months, but also the essential values that inspire my creative work, my yoga practice, and this project that I have of offering objects to be cherished and integrated into one's daily life.
This month, this word: mindfulness.
Mindfulness as the practice of being present to whatever is by choosing to pay attention. The art of being here, now. An art of the senses: to pay attention to what we see and hear, to physical sensations. To observe one's thoughts, one's emotions, but without becoming judgmental.
The most effective trick to achieve this is possibly to slow down. As soon as we slow down, we create a space to take the necessary time to observe, a pause that naturally allows us to be more present.
To have a walk while thinking about what we have just experienced OR
Walk and pay attention to the color and texture of the leaves, the sky, the ground. Smell the grass, the air. To hear the leaves in the wind, to hear the wind. To feel the contact against the soil, the warmth of the sun.
To clean by visualizing the result and thinking about what is disturbing us OR to clean without focusing on the expected result.
Fold the laundry with full awareness, touching the fabric, feeling its texture, observing the colors, smelling its smell. The contact between the fiber and the hand.
And yes, the present moment can sometimes be too overwhelming to want to be there, but isn't it when we are focused on the future or the past that it becomes more so. For instance, during a breakup: to remember memories, to imagine the future without the other OR to choose to observe our thoughts without judgement, to return to physical sensations, to observe what surrounds us.
Yes, I still experience pain in option 2, but I also manage to find some comfort. It is there, in the way I choose to live this moment, that I can find what most resembles happiness.
What do you want to be more present for?