I believe in, what I call, wakeful meditation, which is simply pushing pause to life for a few minutes. And it’s always when I wake up from a restful night’s sleep.
The best part of the day is when I wake up without an alarm. When there’s nothing that drives me to wake up early and be up and about. That’s literally the best part of a day for me. And this usually happens on the weekends.
When I wake up, the house is quiet because usually Zen Master and Zen Mum are still asleep. This is “me” time because this part of the quietude is my self-care. And is absolutely part of my morning wakeful meditation, that I purposely make time for.
Wakeful Meditation or “Me” Time
Without opening my eyes, my first wakeful moment is feeling the quiet and hearing the peace of the morning. Taking deep, slow mindful breaths is how I rise up to wakefulness and the my usual first thought of the morning is thank you.
For waking up to another day, for the air I breathe in, for the quiet of the mind, for the slow wakening of the body. For NO ALARM.
I’ve been reading a bit about the chi, and I visualize it as it moves throughout my body, softly flowing through and stirring awake all my sleeping parts. Breathing in, breathing slowly out. Feeling my heart beat steady and calm. Feeling the blood flowing within, actually feeling the wakefulness of spirit, mind and body coming together.
Even when I have mornings where I do have to go somewhere, I take the few minutes to do this morning wakeful meditation because it actually sets the tone for my day. I guard these moments pretty selfishly because I know that when I get up and run immediately without pausing, I putter out by the afternoon.
It’s little things like these that really make a difference to me. It’s the self-care that’s important for me.
These few minutes really focuses my energy on the day and appreciate the moment of just being. A body needs that.
Sally in the Zen