In February this year I had the opportunity to attend a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course at my place of work with mindfulness teacher, Hitendra Solanki. I wasn't sure what to expect but was keen to learn more.
It's now July and the course completed several weeks ago. Due to the coronavirus situation, to conclude the course we had a day of silent mindfulness practice, which Hiten delivered online. As a chatterbox and generally noisy person, it was anyone's guess as to how I'd fare on the day. But I couldn't have been more wrong. In fact, if I was wearing a hat right now, I would take it off to Hiten. He organised the day superbly, with a mix of mindfulness exercises, a beautiful short film, and time in between for our own practice and reflection.
I began my morning by quietly listening to some gorgeous kora (my favourite musical instrument ever). At 9.30am I joined the first online session of the day, and then watched a video called Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society. Next, I took a quiet break outdoors, walking to a local garden nearby that was completely empty of people in those days of lockdown. Planted out like a large cottage garden, it's the perfect space for reflection. I took my sketchbook and drew the scene before me. I stared at the trees, which had been pollarded and had just a few leaves sprouting from their bare branches. It was a joy to return there each week afterwards and see how those same trees quickly became heavy again with new, thick, rich green foliage.
Back home again, I joined the second online session of the day, followed by a lunch of homemade lentil and potato soup, a favourite dish my beloved mum used to make on Fridays. That soup is so yummy! I concentrated on eating it mindfully, which means taking time to really notice and enjoy the different flavours and textures of the food. And I thought about my mum and how much she loved us and took care of us as we were growing up. I then watched a beautiful short film that Hiten had recommended, called The Man Who Planted Trees.
The final online session took place at 4pm. I can't really put into words my feelings at the end of this very special day. I felt sort of "inside myself" - calm, peaceful, quiet, reflective - all while feeling fully alive and in the moment. Fortunately, I've been able to continue the mindfulness practice with Hiten as he has been offering live, 45-minute online sessions at 8am on weekdays. They really make a difference to how I start my working days, and they bring me unexpected surprises, such as moments of inspiration in my new creative pastime of writing verse. For information about these sessions, please visit Hiten's website Being.Inside. Hiten also delivers mindfulness workshops to humanitarian workers, and you can find out more about his approach in this article he wrote for The Guardian.
And finally, to close this blog piece, I leave you with a poem I wrote about mindfully observing the breath. This is a way of exploring the incredible space between the in breath and the out breath. It's something that happens to each and every one of us, every time we take a breath, but we rarely notice it. My poem is an attempt to describe how I felt when I really connected for the first time with the wonder of that space - when we aren't breathing at all, but are still fully alive.
Breathing my being
There’s a space
Between the in breath
And the out breath,
Where I feel I could stay
For a while,
And then a bit longer,
Without the need
To hurry along to my next breath.
And in that space,
I am captured by the stillness.
My body roots itself
In the ground beneath me.
My mind’s eye carves out a cocoon
With an invisible door,
And my thoughts wait outside,
While I sit in that precious space
Between the in breath
And the out breath.
Breathing my being.
Blog copyright Barbara Grehs
Published on 25 July 2020
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