Reminders

In the ancient language of Pāli, the word for mindfulness (sati) translates to remember to observe. I think of this often as I help people work mindfulness meditation routines into their daily lives. While mindfulness - cultivating awareness and compassion - is an accessible practice for everyone, remembering to be connected to the moment with your whole body and an open, kind attitude can be quite challenging.

Reminders are an easy way to nudge you back into presence throughout your day. You can intentionally create reminders in your life, or make an intention to be open to the reminders already around you. Once you start looking, they are everywhere.

I was reminded of this yesterday watching my senior in high school perform in the musical, 35mm: A Musical Exhibition. A song-cycle performance with themes of love and loss - one line repeatedly stuck out to me from the song Why Must We Tell Them Why:

"Think and you'll miss it".

Think and you'll miss it... we are so often living in the story of what we experience rather than the actual felt sense of the moment. How many times have you found yourself trying to figure out why the traffic on the freeway stopped while driving to work or school? When we do this we are stuck in our head - thinking. Instead we could be feeling the texture of the steering wheel under our hands, stretching our legs a bit as we sit in the traffic jam, or even admiring the clouds in the sky before us. But instead, we stir in our minds, we miss the moment - however exciting, or mundane it might be.

With practice, we start to notice things that remind us to be present all around us. This helps us to create continuity of mindfulness throughout our days leading to more ease, openness and joy in our lives.

Ways to remind yourself to be present:

• Sticky notes with helpful mantras like: "Be here now" -- "Breathe intentionally" -- "Pause" can be placed just about anywhere

• Art that remind you of mindfulness can be a fun way to create reminders around your home

• Creating a self-compassion image or symbol and then putting it in places you frequent

• Using a password on your computer or phone that evokes kindness, love or awareness

• Setting gentle bells on your phone to nudge you back into awareness

• Noticing the mystery and beauty of the world around you often naturally brings about a mindful pause

• Connecting images you use in meditations to reminders. For example, sometimes clouds in the sky are used in visualization meditations about observing your thoughts come and go. Could clouds in the actual sky also remind you?

What other ways do you remind yourself to be more mindful?