I had a patient tell me today that a segment on a local news show last night talked about how some doctors are now ‘prescribing’ mindfulness meditation for their depression patients.
I think it’s a hopeful sign that the phrase ‘it’s all in your head’ may stop having such negative connotations.
Recently I have been making changes in order to slow down a bit, take charge of those loose ends that plague us all, and generally ‘man up’ to the chores I’ve been avoiding. It sounds paradoxical, but in putting in just a little more time on some things, I feel like I can relax and be more mindful of others. Here are three small changes I’ve made:
Ditched the $22 razors, and wet shave like my grandpa used to. I’ve bought a safety razor for $10 on eBay, and a five-pack of razors for $5. I use a brush and shave soap (Crabtree & Evelyn have some good quality stuff), and let me tell you, there’s nothing like having a single straight razor scraping your face to make you slow down and pay attention. My shaving used to be a chore I would whip through, while planning my day or worrying about being late. Now I take a lot more time and care, and focus only on the task at hand. I also made my own “Bay Rum” aftershave from a recipe I found online.
Started ironing my clothes. I used to hate the amount of time it would take to iron my shirts and dress pants. Today, though, I took a pile of wrinkled shirts and spent an hour of focused time making them look sharp. I enjoyed the process and appreciated the ‘alone time’ such a task gave me, not to mention had a small feeling of pride when I got dressed to go to the clinic.
Doing the dishes when they need doing. Argh, do I hate doing dishes. But I realized recently that I hate doing day-old dishes even more! I am trying now to do the dishes when they need doing, and to pay attention to the task at hand.
These three things, while taking more of my time, actually make me feel that, not only have I accomplished something and done a good job doing it, I have more mental focus, because I don’t have that nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me I should be doing something instead of farting around on my iPhone or whatnot.
Mindfulness doesn’t have to be done only in meditation. The opportunities are everywhere.