S&S PROMPT: MINDFULNESS INSPIRED POETRY
Moments
a mindful memo
Life is a series of moments just like this one You may love it or loathe it You may be consumed by it or create it Or you may choose to do a bit of both Only YOU get to decide.
Others may try to influence it They may even try to force it But only you hold the key Listen to all but follow none Remember that you have the power.
Be Wise, Learn to exercise that choice Each new moment presents a chance Start by taking a mindful stance With each breathes that you take You can choose to observe and reflect.
If you slow down, And dig into each moment You will find new treasures galore Some are easier to accept and love Others may require a few tries and nerve
Just know this: Life is a unique collection your series of moments moments can be amazing moments give life its meaning And YOU get to decide their true meaning!
The best part — YOU already know. Consider this a mindful MEMO!
As the ease of summer gives way to the back-to-school busyness, it is probably a good time to look at the “mindful memo” and to renew a commitment to the mindfulness practice.
When the paperwork, school, and homework, integrating work, life schedules, and meetings ( the endless meetings!) start to roll in, it can often be helpful to take a moment to stop and check-in with your mind and body — without judgment or repeating your story of favorite “whys” just simply noticing, paying attention to your breath — what is it like — fast or slow, shallow or deep? Perhaps your neck and shoulders — are they feeling tense?
This — brief interlude — to take an inventory of our bodily sensations is sometimes called a “body scan” and is an example of a mindful moment — one that can present a little chance to reboot if we find that might be headed in an unhelpful direction. These brief moments of awareness, along with some willingness and practiced skill, can help us stay present and connected to our surroundings and clear in our thinking.
Researchers at Penn State offered an eight-session mindfulness training program to first-year students. They found that the intervention was associated with significant increases in the students’ life satisfaction and a significant decrease in depression and anxiety compared to students who did not participate in the training.
“We offered an experiential, practice-oriented training,” said Dvorakova. “Rather than telling the students what to do, we had them explore and talk about how to be mindful in their daily lives and discover the benefits for themselves. We found that underneath the stress that students are experiencing is a deep desire to appreciate life and feel meaningful connections with other people. It is our responsibility as educators to create academic environments that nurture both students’ minds and hearts. ” Source: Science Daily
The Science of Mindfulness is ever-evolving, and one thing is becoming clear, while the specifics of practice might wary, one consistent theme is emerging — taking time to practice mindful breaths, breath awareness, and mindfulness of emotions is an effective practice to manage transitions in life — back to school or otherwise.
Finally, this poem is offered as a mindful memo — that at some level, we are quite aware of the fact that life is filled with moments and that in practicing mindful observing of moments, we find the most clarity about our wants and needs — I hope you will try non-judgemental observing of moments and perhaps experiment with what your mindfulness practices could be.
With mindful appreciation of your time and support — Thank you for reading.
Here are some additional sources for guided mindfulness practice:
Center for Mindfulness at UCSD
Insight Timer App
**This story is part of the S&S Prompt series — science-inspired prompts to get you inspired — Our dear readers — have a little fun exercising your artistic creativity and write a science-inspired story — the format is entirely up to you — haiku, sciku, limerick, poetry, prose, painting, etc. — if you do — feel free to publish it anywhere on medium, just tag it with #SnSPrompt.
***Tagging everyone for your support to S&S — a huge thank you — Adelia Ritchie, Ph.D. Squeeze the Avocado Tara Desai Dr. Fatima Imam Dr. VK Dr. Jackie Greenwood jenine bsharah baines Laura Griffith Machado, PsyD Lynn E. O’Connor, Ph.D. Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀 Dr. Marina Harris Melissa Gouty Dr. Preeti Singh Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) Rita Hitching ScienceDuuude ASeiler Skanda Vivek Swati Suman Synthia S. K. Barrett and anyone else who feel inspired to follow and/or play along with this fun #SnSPrompt: Science related to “ mindfulness” or simply a story about “mindfulness.”
