Are Dirty Dishes The Key To Mindfulness ?

Do you love or hate washing dishes?

'Mindfulness' with a capital M is another 'new age' word that has risen to the surface of everyday conversation over the past few years, but what does it mean to live mindfully, and how does it impact your daily life?

The first time I understood the simplicity of what previously seemed an ethereal concept for the already enlightened, it came from Thích Nhất Hạnh, the beloved Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and founder of the Plum Village Tradition, historically recognized as the main inspiration for engaged Buddhism.

In his book ‘The Miracle Of Mindfulness, the prolific author, poet and teacher, illustrates what Mindfulness looks like in real life, using the most mundane of daily chores, which I've passionately hated for my whole life - washing the dishes.

His simple words about focusing on the task of washing each dirty dish became an aha moment in my personal journey, albeit for years afterwards I still avoided volunteering to wash dishes if at all possible. 

When I eventually came to live alone, Thích Nhất Hạnh’s advice returned to mind as one of my first practical applications of ten years worth of 'self-help' reading, and to this day I look on a sink-load of dirty dishes as an opportunity to live in the moment - I even volunteer on high days and holidays!

You see, the seeds of Mindfulness are really sown in the act of slowing down and finding ways to 'live in the moment', accepting what is, not thinking of what was, and not wondering what will be.

In less esoteric terms, those plates won't wash themselves, whether that means old school sponge and Fairy liquid or running a load through the dishwasher, so you might as well accept that and get on with it.

For two years, our crazy lives were made crazier by the unprecedented disruption of the global reality by a virus that brought us to a hard stop, enforcing the brotherhood of man to slow down and live in the moment.

So it's no coincidence that many people across the world turned to ancient techniques like yoga, meditation and breathwork, at home on newly-purchased mats, logging into hundreds of Zoom groups to learn how to manage a new assault on their mental health - and they found real answers.

There are more than 300 million yogis around the world these days!

No longer the sole domain of hippies, weirdos and 'new age' practitioners, Mindfulness as part of the Wellness scene is a huge trend - ergo a money-spinning opportunity for big business, and as anyone who knows about algorithms will witness, the advertising assault from social media is real.

I'm not saying that paying for an online course is a bad thing, but the essence of Mindfulness starts with the individual slowing down and finding time to live in the moment, and all of us can make that choice - every now and again, or every hour of every day.

Living mindfully can make mundane or must-do tasks easier to manage, and it can even help cure that everyday challenge - procrastination.

By choosing avoid distractions and focus only on that important payroll at work, or cleaning that bathroom after a particularly filthy guest, or getting up half an hour earlier to breathe and do some yoga poses, you'll find Mindfulness starts to become something you seek more than once in a while.

A mindful lifestyle comes amazing benefits, like making your 'default' attitude positive, increasing the clarity of your thought processes, more patience and empathy with those around you, and the sudden ability to hear birdsong for miles around.

The great news for Saint Lucians is that Sol Sanctum is here to offer Mindfulness and Wellness, through a wide range of activities and classes such as Meditation, Breathwork, Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and other proven practices

Sol Sanctum Studio is also the home of the Art of Living Foundation, which teaches Meditation and Breathwork through in-person workshops and courses such as the world-renowned 'Happiness Workshop', endorsed by thousands of people from hundreds of countries across the world.

So, sit down and find a moment to live in the moment, then reach out to us at Sol Sanctum to find out your next step on the path to Mindfulness.