This is an excerpt from Joann Calabrese’s blog “Mindfulness Garden Games” (link below), Joann is a long time facilitator and contractor with The Network. During the month of February she led us in a three week series on mindfulness practice. If you missed it, here’s a bit about what the class is about!
This moment and this moment and this next moment….that’s what we have. These moments make up our lives, and yet we seem to be wired to be anywhere but in this present moment. Certainly more than at any time in our history, the information on meditation and mindfulness is readily available and yet people struggle with understanding what to do or how to establish a practice.
The Colorado Mental Wellness Network where I am a trainer has just wrapped up a three week class on mindfulness with two simple goals: help participants establish or deepen a foundational meditation practice, and help them find ways to incorporate mindfulness into their everyday lives.
The nature mandalas in the pictures above were created as our final activity. Mandalas originated within the Buddhist tradition and theirs is a very formal process over many days. Ours is more free form and much shorter but still has certain rules.
We work silently in groups to create the design. Each part of the process is intentional, from walking to the table holding plant materials, to selecting the materials, to placing them on the paper. Since there is no talking it gently forces us to be present to the design taking shape in front of our eyes….
Continue reading on Joann’s Blog “Mindfulness Garden Games”