Well that was another epic failure… I was determined last week to spend this week practicing mindfulness by using my left foot to enter any building.  And I completely forgot about it everyday until it was bedtime each night.  Oh well.  I was able to continue doing my seven things each morning though, so that is a success.

For tonight’s class, we did some movements while seated in the chair, and I have to admit that I tuned the instructor out and dozed off and jerked awake on numerous occasions.  It was not intentional, I really tried to listen to what he was saying.  But the atmosphere was just so quiet and relaxing and dimly lit that I just couldn’t sustain my state of being awake, until that sudden drop of the head woke me up.

If there is one thing I can take away from tonight’s class, it is that mindfulness isn’t necessarily about being focused on one thing like breathing or an image or a mantra.  Mindfulness is about having awareness in the present time.  My mind wanders off many a time, thinking back and looking forward.  I find myself doing this while I am riding my bicycle home.  My mind just wanders.  I just need to practice coming back to the cycling in the moment, feeling every breath, hearing all the noises, smelling the air and seeing all that is around me.  Step by step, day by day.  I have enjoyed my Qigong class and have found positive effects for my morning ritual — now I just have to continue practicing continuing my success past the morning!