Category Archives: Mindfulness

Journal Writing: Yardwork Ritual Captures Mindfulness

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Yesterday’s mild temperatures allowed me to work in the yard and participate in a closing ritual that helped me to stop clinging to summer.  I put away all of the garden tchotchke (pronounced chachki).  They are decorative, sentimental knick-knacks with little purpose, other than to fill my yard with whimsical color.  Demonstrating a desire to honor a season that I thoroughly enjoyed, I worked with the same reverence as when I store my holiday decorations.  I moved about with mindful intention and peacefully removed dirt and grime from items that had been stuck in the ground or hanging from trees.

When the cleanup process was complete, there was still a beautiful begonia plant left to reign as a reminder of the lingering summer that refused to leave my heart.  I wondered how long I would be able to count on the bright orange blossoms to greet me in the morning?  A little internet research revealed that I could bring the plant inside.  It seemed like a fitting tribute to the colorful blooms that had delighted me since June.

Yet as I continued to reflect on my ritual of bringing in the garden tchotchke, I realized that it won’t be long before my backyard is covered with a soft blanket of snow.  I will sit wrapped in a quilt and marvel at the twinkling frozen beauty.  Each season has its own splendor to uncover.  As I immerse myself in it, I often hate to see it depart.  My closing rituals help me to move on, to stop clinging to what was, to respect the period of transition and to appreciate the next precious moment of the season I am in.  So what am I doing to experience Autumn?

Journal Writing Technique

The entry above is an example of a Captured Moment, a form of descriptive writing that freezes a moment in time.  It can be written as an event is happening or as a memory of something that has already happened.  I combined the Captured Moment technique with Reflection, statements that describe the meaning of the experience for me.

When I re-read my journal entry, I was moved by the suggestion to appreciate “the season that I am in.”  In response, I took a walk in the cool fall air, felt the crunching of leaves beneath my feet and viewed the changing colors of the trees along the Erie Canal.  I was truly in the present moment and my heart swelled with the grace of Autumn.

A Captured Moment with Jon Kabat-Zinn

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“So why are you here?” she heard him say as his eyes scanned the balcony and floor level of the Hochstein School of Music. The words filled her being, a response was felt in her strongly beating heart, and her mind formed the word — Connection. She sat in a meditative posture and let the stillness steep deeply within.  Her gaze became a blend of colors that melted onto the stage.

He asked the question again a bit more fervently, “Why are you really here?” She heard his voice from a distance, a sound forming syllables of meaning that simply expanded her initial answer —  C o n n e c t i o n.  She continued to sit and let this be, even though her brain wanted to begin defining what this meant to her:  To be united with the energy of the people around me and to receive sustenance from others who share my values…. Fortunately, these words did not surface- just the steadiness of connection that did not care to be defined.

She heard him ask for the third time, “So why are you really, really, really here?” Laughter echoed in the room; it vibrated in her heart as she sat rooted in her seat. Only a single word was pulsing through her — Connection.  Not much else mattered in that present moment, so she took a deep breath and rested in it.

Journal Technique

The entry above is an example of a Captured Moment, a form of descriptive writing that freezes a moment in time.  It can be written as an event is happening or as a memory of something that has already happened.  The writing generally includes sensory detail of an event that is felt intensely and becomes like a snapshot in a photo album.

The morning following the lecture by Jon Kabat Zinn, I sat down to write in my journal and remembered the experience of his opening meditation.  I decided to record it because the memory of being fully immersed in the present moment was fresh and meaningful.  I wrote in third person because I love this technique and also to allow a reader to imagine being in my seat.