I know that on the bad days, when the list is overwhelming and the noisy thoughts are exhausting, engaging in toddler ‘mindfulness’ can be the best sort of therapy, and somehow easier than trying to be mindful alone.
We look for treasure in the garden and count the spiders, snails and stones while the sun moves round the sky to bathe us in the morning glow.
We play train crashes with incredibly detailed story lines, and re-enact scenes from whatever film is flavour of the month/week/hour until the morning turns to afternoon.
We run, and race, and win without starting lines or medals, the winner gets the strawberry red yoghurt.
We talk about the colours we can see, and how the weather feels. We remember ‘yestday’ (2 months ago) it snowed, and we pretend to jump in muddy puddles that have long since dried up
We feel sharp edges, rough stones, soft flower petals. We feel happy, and sad, and hungry and tired, but acceptance too, of each one’s necessity.
Our minds aren’t noisy, we are!
Our tasks don’t form lists; they are sporadic moments of spontaneity and impulsive creativity.
When it comes to mindfulness as a tool for wellness, maybe instead of chasing it as something we need to get, or achieve, or pay for, we could try embracing it as something we already have access to? The childlike wonder of the world around us, that we for some reason or another learned to ignore, can become our friend once more.
