Deep Minutes

One of the first signs that I'm not centered and need to get that way is when I am scattered and forget things. This happened today. I forgot a phone call chat that I have regularly with a dear friend. Whenever I'm under a lot of emotional strain, I tend to forget things like this. (We said farewell to my boss today and that was sad, plus a few other work things worthy of a Dilbert cartoon in the funniest/saddest way had distracted me.)

The message for me is to slow down and get myself centered, even in the midst of chaos. The DH recently described something he heard on a radio program. It's called a "Deep Minute." The guy, whose name I don't recall, said that asking people to jump into longer periods of meditation without baby step practice likely leads to frustration and abandonment of the meditation practice. The concept of a Deep Minute is to take one minute once a day and get centered - close your eyes and breathe deeply. Then, slowly work more of these into the day.

I want to incorporate this into my life. The sitting still type of meditation is very hard for me. (I'm more of a moving meditator.) But I think I can do one minute -- and who knows, with practice, maybe even more! Part of the tape playing in my head needs to change. I tell myself I don't have time. But who doesn't have time for one minute? I can think of very, very few things in my life that cannot wait one minute.

Had I taken a minute to center myself today, perhaps I wouldn't have neglected my appointment with my friend!

I'm flying out tomorrow for a long weekend in Seattle. I'm going solo (and I enjoy solo travel). I think this will be a refreshing experience for me. New sights, sounds and experiences always help to remind me that there's a bigger world than Stephanie's personal dramas. :-) Plus, it will be a time to get myself centered. Watch for Seattle photos and tea stories in the near future.