Many
of our daily activities are done on auto pilot.
We do them every day without thinking about them or noticing anything
about them. Take having a shower, most of us end up thinking about what we are
going to do later or start thinking about work.
Instead practice mindfulness and get your day off to a calm and focused
start. Mindfulness helps us step out of
auto pilot. It helps us create more space for awareness. When we are more aware we can change our response
to our thoughts, habits and feelings.
So
next time you are in the shower, check who is in the shower with you. Are you already in a meeting at work? You may
be having the whole meeting in the shower, going through conversations that you
imagine you will have. You could find that you start to experience stressful
responses or emotional responses to something that has yet to happen or may
never happen. But your body does not
know that you are not in the meeting therefore you could already be stressed and
having a full blown anxiety experience before leaving the shower. When in
reality it hasn't even happened.
Who's In The Shower With You????
Try to just be in the shower, in that moment and
not anywhere else.
Feel
the temperature of the water and the sensation of the water hitting your skin,
maybe its tingling? Become aware of the
water as it flows down your head and onto your body. How does the water feel around your feet? Notice the sensations of shampooing your
hair, the scent of the shampoo and shower gel. Be mindful of where you are and
experience the moment.
If
you mind wanders to the day ahead, and it will! Gently bring your mind back to
the shower and what you are aware of.
Just bringing
mindfulness into one of your daily activities can help you begin your day calm
and focused. Once you have experienced a
mindful shower perhaps choose another daily activity to do mindfully. The more time spent being mindful less time
being spent feeling stressed and with a busy mind.
