Photo by guy stevens on Unsplash
““What do you do to be so happy and peaceful?”
“I walk, I work, I read, I eat, I play, and I rest.”
“I walk, I work, I read, I eat, I play, and I rest, too, but I am not so happy,” said Monkey.
“That seems true,” said Happy Panda as he looked at Monkey. “So, Monkey, what do you think about when you do those things?” ”
How often throughout our day is our mind truly, fully immersed in what is in front of us? How often is it somewhere else, dreaming about rest while we work, thinking about work while we eat, wishing we could play while we read?
I worked with a family a few nights ago, and we read Mindful Monkey, Happy Panda. Then, we practiced anchoring our attention to our different senses to help us train our monkey minds to be steady.
We listened for a minute to the sounds around us.
We felt the softness of different stuffed animals, and noted areas where there were different textures or different shapes.
We looked for each of the colors of the rainbow in the house around us.
We talked about tasting each bite of our breakfast the next morning and smelling the sweet scents.
Just for today, use your senses to fully engage in each moment and anchor to the present. Notice how fully immersing yourself gives you greater access to contentment, no matter what you’re doing.