Are you ever in such a rush with the day-to-day of life that you lose touch with you? Something feels off. You’re just not in alignment. You need to centre yourself.
Sure, it sounds good on paper. But how do you do it in real life?
Three words, my friends. Ring. Them. Bells.
Let me explain.
The nuns and monks at the Buddhist monastery “Plum Village” in France have a very famous boss. His name is Thich Nhat Hanh. He’s a zen master and Vietnamese monk who is one of the fathers of mindfulness. TNH is a very cool dude.
When he’s in residence there – and even when he isn’t – they ring a beautiful “Bell of Mindfulness” at predetermined times throughout the day. When you hear the bell, you stop.
You stop walking. You stop thinking. You notice what IS, what’s around you, what’s beautiful, what’s right in front of your eyes.
You come back to centre.
And here’s the best part. You don’t have to live at Plum Village to ring a bell. You can do it anywhere. The easiest way is to download an app that rings a mindfulness bell on your cell phone; there are lots of them to choose from. But guess what? You can also use the bells of everyday life as your signal to stop and chill: a baby’s cry, the sound of a fire truck or an ambulance, the chime of a church bell, the call of a bird in your back yard or the ringing of your iPhone when somebody calls.
You hear the sound, you stop and centre. It’s that simple.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling never sounded so good. 😀
