Monday March 14 2011
Experiencing all five senses. Recently I have been taking this mindfulness course (I am nearing week 5/6), but I have taken the week off last week. It is a commitment, and I knew I couldn't give everything to this course. I am back today. Ironic how it started.
This morning, when making coffee. I burned three fingers on my right hand, when pouring the burning water into the french press. It was 500 AM. I awoke my fiance and two dogs. The pain was apparent. My fingers burned so bad they felt cold and numb. Anthony, downgraded this to a first degree burn "which is nothing I've burned myself hundreds of times as a chef." But for me this was new, I had not burned myself for years. He informed me that putting ice and cold water, although momentarily would ease the pain, would only prolong it. I quickly recalled my great-grandmother's advice of putting butter on the wound. I did. Anthony never heard of this before and was curious. Yet, as I put the butter on, I felt the coolness, the softness of the butter. It eased the pain, it was not bitter cold, but soft and oily. My hands smelled like breakfast. I walked the dogs, and kept a paper towel whipped with butter over my fingers. This kept me focused on the comfort versus the pain. My mind was focused just to this body sensation. As I write this, several hours later, the pain has dissipated but it still tingles. When this was all occurring, first I thought "Why did this happen on a Monday?" I then thought, what could be the good found in this....Mindfulness. I lessened my thoughts and just focused on my right hand. The recurring pain, the smoothness of my homemade remedy, the comfort in the smells of butter in the morning. This was mindfulness. When I meditate, it can be hard. I get stuck in my thoughts that run non-stop. I remember once doing za-zen meditation for one hour at a time, the goal of only counting to five. There is difficulty in this because our brains focus on everything else but the numbers.
As a tourist, since we may be out of our element, we may be more likely to remind ourselves to feel everything, be in the moment. Taste, feel, hear, touch, smell everything. Our time in this location is limited, how can we take it all in and just be?
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