My Experiment in Mindfulness

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In today’s post, I am asking you to consider the absence of stimulus.

The reason being is that I am attempting to live without television for one month.

Why? Because they were digging a new drain several blocks from my house, the cable got cut, and the suburb was without TV for about 24 hours.

Now, my place is quite small – so I usually have the TV on a music channel for background noise. But when I picked up the remote and clicked the button, it was an eerie feeling to see a blue screen with the ‘No Signal’ message.

It was like an old friend didn’t like me anymore.

I don’t really watch much television – in that I don’t have any programs I must see. There are several shows I really like, but I catch them by chance, compared to memorizing the television guide and planning my day around them.

So with no TV, it took me ten minutes to tidy-up the place, and then … I picked up a book. Just a few pages in, I was flushed with the realization of creative energy, so I picked up my scribble pad and wrote something wonderful.

Then I cooked dinner in silence; Apart from the sound of the peeler running down the carrot, and the knife on the chopping board, and the stew bubbling in the pot. Natural sounds were abundant – and it was like I had never noticed them before.

Mindfulness

Without the background sounds occupying my awareness, I was more mindful of everything. My simple thoughts were beautiful and clear. As they say – I was living in the present.

As I rinsed my hands I noticed the feel of the water of my skin; the temperature radiating from the stove; the smells of the herbs; the efficiency of my function. I was more aware of everything. My senses, my actions, my thoughts, my feelings … Everything all at once.

I found the clarity of deep meditation while preparing my vegetable curry.

The thrill of the revelation spilled over to the next day. I drove my car without the radio on. I watched a candle burn for 10 minutes … you get the idea.

All of this came from a change of my habitual living – which created change in my habitual thinking.

Just to clarify, I’m not against television; I am just exploring an idea.

Television is just one part of the experiment – but if it frees up an hour a day, I wonder what I could achieve after a month without it?

I am just making a conscious effort to reduce distractions and opportunities for mindlessness.

I could plan to do it for 5 minutes – or the rest of my life … but I think a month is a good measure to start.

In an effort to increase my awareness – I am simply reducing the exposure to the things that hold it captive.

I will let you know what I find

In Love and Light, We Explore!
Nigel Coates

With degrees in Communications and Massage, Nigel Coates found it a natural progression to share his passion for healing and wellness through his Explore Meditation website. His quest for integrated well-being and spiritual insight has explored many modalities and principles, even taking him around the world to study with masters. As a natural communicator, he loves to share his findings with this community of truth seekers.
For more information please click Nigel Coates.

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The Explore Meditation website is a meditation blog / reference website to assist your spiritual growth. This page hosts a menu of all the great resources on my website.