Methods in Mindfulness

I've been trying really hard to get the balance right, and I think that, slowly, I might be getting a little less wobbly and a little more sure-footed.

I'm the sort of person who likes to live by guidelines, routines and plans. Every Sunday evening Daniel and I sit together eating soup and plan the week ahead, from what we will eat to when we will go out cycling. Our individual lifestyles are currenly balancing so critically against one another, and any shift in the delicate structure that we've built up could cause chaos (and has on a few occasions). So instead we choose to live by the book, which suits me perfectly, however unexciting it may seem.

But now the days are longer and I've managed to negotiate my working hours to suit me a bit better, we've found that from waking in the morning to falling exhausted into bed at night, it's possible to really live every minute. The washing still needs doing and packed lunches still need preparing, but alongside our sound day-to-day structure there are wonderful periods of stillness, within which we have begun to thrive over the past weeks. Simple choices, an effort to be more mindful, a decision to move slightly out of the boundaries of our comfort zones have brought a harmony which allow spontenaity to entwine around our routine.


- Fresh evening walks by the river

- Slow cups of tea and contemplation

- Amazing healthy teas packed with protein and greenery

- Long evening runs through the countryside

- Listening to favourite albums quietly on the sofa


I have loosened many of my self-imposed restrictions to find that balance and mindfulness take care of any lack of control I may have had. Sometimes I falter, of course, but what is balance if not a continuous string of tiny stumblings which together hold us safely upright?