Mindfulness Challenge Week 9: Touch

touch bw

The Things We Touch

Every day we put on clothes, we pick things up, we cook, we slide our fingers across our keyboards and our phones – mindlessly.  And yet, in each of these is a touch, a texture, a temperature.  The fabric we wear is stretchy, silky, or soft; the dishes are cool and hard.  Food has endless textures:  bumpy, crumbly, or even slimy.

How often do we notice?

What if we paid as much attention to the water running over our bodies in the shower as we did the pillow we lay our heads down on each night?  What if we were as mindful of the softness of the scarf we wrap around our neck as we are the tag that scratches at our back?

Here is what I do notice:

  • A new book, its pages crisp and clean
  • The warmth from my children when we curl up on the couch
  • The weight and softness of the throw I cover my legs with while I relax
  • The heat of a fresh cup of coffee
  • A pair of fuzzy reading socks
  • A hot bath
  • The almost-spring sun as it heats the inside of the car
  • Ice-cold water during hot yoga (and the grip of my mat during asanas)
  • The smooth keys of the keyboard while I type
  • The curved edges and ridged buttons on my camera

This mindfulness challenge began to help create more awareness in my photography; it is helping to create more awareness in my life.

#createmindfulness2017

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Create Mindfulness

I’ve fallen away from my photography a little lately, so I’ve been looking for something to spark my creativity in 2017.  There are so many 365 challenges (too ambitious for this teacher), and 52-week themes available, but none were quite what I was looking for.

This past summer I began practicing yoga regularly and absolutely love it – and want to benefit even more from the practice to be more mindful.

It’s nearly 2017, so a little late, but I wanted to share what I came up with today:  “Mindfulness Challenge: 52 weeks of mindful themes for photography, poetry, journaling, and creating”. 

Please feel free to print/try/share.  If you’d like a PDF version ($1) – and an editable PowerPoint version, please click on the image below and you will be taken to the link:

52-week-mindfulness-creativity-challenge

Enjoy, good luck, and Happy New Year!  Wishing you and yours health and happiness for 2017.

#createmindfulness2017