Playing With Mindfulness: Sneaking In The Back Door
I often meet people who say things like, "I've been working with
mindfulness for over twenty years."
My response is always this: "Oh, you poor thing! Have you tried
*playing* with mindfulness? It's very effective, and much more
fun!"
They tend to look at me like I'm some kind of kook, and then ask
the million-dollar question: "How can you play with
mindfulness?" Glad you asked.... We tend to think of mindfulness
as something that develops only after years of dedicated
meditation. We must sit for hours, contemplate in silence for
days, go on retreats for weeks, practice daily for years. Okay,
that can work.
The unfortunate thing is that it IS work, and consequently, it's
about as appealing to most folks as lying on a bed of nails.
Sure, they want to develop a clearer perspective on life. Yes,
they want to become calm and contemplative. Of course they want
to live more meaningfully and with greater joy. But does it have
to be so hard?
Absolutely not. You see, while most people knock politely on
that front door of meditation in order to get inside the House
of Mindfulness, I like to sneak people in the back door to steal
a few cookies. Why can't we play with mindfulness, dance with
it, treat it like our favorite goofy cousin who happens to be
brilliant instead of our strict uncle who happens to have a
Ph.D?
Why can't we tiptoe toward mindfulness through eyes-wide-open
exercises that are engaging, uplifting, informative, and--dare I
say it--fun?
Mindfulness should be like a big game of mental hide-and-seek:
"Where am I now? Gotcha!"
As a student of Buddhism for nearly 30 years, I have the
greatest respect for the Buddha and the philosophy that
developed around his teachings. I have tremendous admiration for
those who have dedicated themselves to a regular meditation
practice.
But it's disturbing to me that mindfulness is seen as
"belonging" to Buddhism and that meditation is seen as the only
vehicle that will take us there. This sounds a bit like, oh,
attachment? Clinging, perhaps?
I just can't find it in my heart to believe that the Buddha
would be ticked off about the idea of developing mindfulness in
whatever way works best.
Not everyone likes the idea of meditation, but here's the cool
part: those who start off with easy, enjoyable exercises often
find themselves seeing the value in sitting still. In fact, many
clients say they'd never have started with meditation, but they
so enjoyed "playing" with mindfulness that they have begun a
regular sitting practice!
Sneaky? Sure, but that's part of playing. Fun--in whatever form
that takes--is what keeps us going back for more. If you're not
grinning, you're not winning in this big ol' game of life.
If "working" on mindfulness isn't working for you, try playing
instead.
Throw open the doors. Let your inner monk go out and play. It's
recess!