Your mind will wander
Updated: 21 hours ago
A one-minute practice for arriving where you already are.
You sit down for a quiet minute. Your mind produces a shopping list. Then a work email. Then something you said in 2018.
It has apparently been waiting for an audience.
Mindfulness involves noticing present experience without judging it. Attention can rest on a simple sensation or sound. [1] When it wanders, you can gently bring it back.
Try this after closing your laptop, before the rest of the evening begins. Set a gentle timer for one minute.
Try a one minute arrival
1. Get comfortable. Sit with your feet supported. Let your hands rest. Keep your eyes open if that feels easier.
2. Choose one point of contact. Notice your feet meeting the floor or your hands resting on your lap.
3. Stay with what you can feel. Perhaps there is warmth or pressure. Let your breathing remain natural. There is no need to make it deeper or slower.
4. Return when you notice. If your attention moves to dinner or tomorrow’s meeting, silently acknowledge “thinking” and come back to that point of contact.
For the next three days, try it at the same moment each day. Afterwards, note one thing you noticed about your body or surroundings. You can finish the minute with a busy mind and still have practised paying attention.
If focusing on bodily sensations feels uncomfortable, look at an object in the room instead or stop.
A busy mind can still have a place to return.
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