Mindfulness in Daily Life: Thanksgiving Edition
Thanksgiving this year may look different for most of us which, while challenging, could make it a perfect time to bring in some mindfulness. Instead of what can sometimes be a whirlwind of travel, cook, eat, repeat, why not commit to this week as a time to slow down, reflect, rest, and become present to the world around you.
This suggestion is not to minimize the very real struggles and emotions that are going on in us and the world around us. But mindfulness helps me to accept what is here. Thanksgiving (and this whole year) may be different than we hoped, but it is here. So can we work to accept what's here using the kind, curious attention that mindfulness employs rather than resisting and wishing the time away? Maybe we will even find some joy in unexpected moments.
So here are a few ways I will be using my practice this turkey day, and invite you to do the same!
Mindful Speaking and Listening
Spending so much time with the same people over this year has, in my experience, caused a dulling when it comes to conversations. We are together SO MUCH that maybe I'm not listening as well as I have in the past. This would be a great time to re-engage. Whether it's over dinner with our pod members or on a Zoom call with extended family, we can use mindfulness to deeply listen to the person speaking. Hear what they are saying instead of tuning out or planning your response to the person. What's it like to be super curious about what that person is saying? To not assume you know what they are going to say? And when you are speaking, stay tuned in to your body, to how it feels to be speaking and what you want to say.
Mindful Cleaning
Whether it’s organizing that closet you've said you'd get to all year (just me?) or washing the dishes after your thanksgiving meal, bring your full presence to the task at hand. Don't just rush through this common chore, instead allow your mind to take a break and become curious about the task at hand. Feel the temperature of the water running over your hands. Notice the texture of the soap as you scrub. Pay attention to how the items you are cleaning make you feel, any emotions they may elicit. And pause at the end to notice the clean and/or organized object in front of you. Take in any satisfaction of a job well done. It's the little things!
Mindful Eating
Don't let the most IMPORTANT part of the day go by in a rush of thinking/worrying/planning. Instead, pause after you serve your plate (did you really need so much sweet potato casserole Rachel?!) and reflect on the whole process that led to this meal. Even if you didn't cook the meal or it's smaller than years past, it still had a long and beautiful journey to your table. Each vegetable was grown in the earth, nourished by the dirt and the sunshine, picked from the earth by a human being (or robot idk), transported to a store, brought from the store, and combined with other things that followed the same process. Let gratitude for this whole journey flow through you before you take your first bite.
“This food reveals our connection to the earth. Each bite contains the life of the sun and the earth…. We can see and taste the whole universe in a piece of bread! Contemplating our food for a few seconds before eating, and eating in mindfulness, can bring us much happiness.” Thich Nhat Hanh
And when you do take that bite, really savor it. Eating can be one of the most pleasurable experiences we engage in, and yet we so often chew, swallow, and repeat without really tasting the food or take part in the pleasure available. Smell the food before you put it into your mouth. Notice how your mouth may start to water at the smell, and how your excitement to take that bite ramps up. Notice all of the colors on your fork and when you put the food in your mouth notice the explosion of flavors as they hit your tongue. Try doing this for your first few bites of each item on your plate to take in the full experience.
Gratitude
You didn't think I would leave out gratitude on this so-called day of giving thanks, did you?! The truth is that practicing gratitude has changed my life in many ways. When you start to look for things around you to be grateful for (with the same energy we often put towards seeing the lack) we start to naturally notice those things more often. It's one of the ways we start to rewire our brains! Research has linked gratitude with a wide range of benefits, including strengthening your immune system and improving sleep patterns, feeling optimistic and experiencing more joy and pleasure, being more helpful and generous, and feeling less lonely and isolated. YES PLEASE!
But, it’s a skill that needs to be cultivated over time, so what better time to start than at the dinner table or on a zoom with your family and friends? Go around to share things that you are grateful for even (or especially) during this deeply challenging year. Maybe this is a "small thing" like the meal you just ate, the smell of pie in the oven, the wind you hear outside, the feeling of being warm and cozy in your sweater. Or maybe it’s a "big thing" like the support of your partner, family, and/or friends, the health of your kids, or the fact that you can practice gratitude at all right now when so many have lost their lives this year.
“The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little.” Jon Kabat-Zinn
These small practices can connect us back to what matters to us and allow us to take in the joy and pleasure available in these moments. Mindfulness is never about pushing away or denying the challenges and issues at hand, but it is about taking time to notice the truth, joy, and goodness that can be here at the same time.
Wishing everyone a restful and joyful holiday, whatever that may look like this year.
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