The run up to Christmas can be an extremely busy and stressful time. In this extract from The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us the importance of allowing ourselves space to meditate and step aside from external pressures:
Every day and every hour, one should practice mindfulness. That’s easy to say, but to carry it out in practice is not. That’s why I suggest … that each person should try hard to reserve one day out of the week to devote entirely to their practice of mindfulness. In principle, of course every day should be your day, and every hour your hour. But the fact is that very few of us have reached such a point. We have the impression that our family, place of work, and society rob us of all our time. So I urge that everyone set aside one day each week. Saturday, perhaps. If it is Saturday, then Saturday must be entirely your day, a day during which you are completely the master. Then Saturday will be the lever that will lift you to the habit of practicing mindfulness. Every worker in a …. community, no matter how urgent its work, has the right to such a day, for without it we will lose ourselves quickly in a life full of worry and action, and our responses will become increasingly useless. Whatever the day chosen, it can be considered as the day of mindfulness.
Thich Nhat Hanh
http://www.cygnus-books.co.uk/mindfulness/ for more Mindfulness titles
Also see 10 steps to a mindful and relaxing christmas
Tomorrow open the Cygnus Advent Calendar for a Childrens’ book special!
