July 01, 2016

114 Celebrations and Mindfulness Weekends With Bruce Langford

13 minutes

Celebrations make life fun. How can we practice mindfulness even

during times of celebrating? It's easy to get caught up in the

excitement and especially in the preparations leading up to the event.

Today

is Canada Day, July 1, 2016. This is Canada's 149th birthday. I enjoy

celebrating Canada Day with my family, and mindfulness makes it even

better.

Recently, I interviewed Steven Shalowitz from Mindfulness

Mode. He is a world traveler and a sincerely mindful person. He has a

podcast called The One Way Ticket Show. Each guest is invited to choose a

place they'd like to visit and never come back. It can be a real or

imaginary place, a place back in history or forward in time. The One Way

Ticket Show encourages you to be creative with your destination.

decided I'd like to go back to Expo 67 in Montreal. That was the

celebration of Canada's 100th birthday. I remember it as a most exciting

time. The whole country was celebrating. For my one way ticket, I told

Steven I'd like to be playing the piano (a grand piano of course) on the

deck of a yacht docked in the harbor near Expo 67. I'd be playing the

piano for an excited audience of people celebrating Canada's birthday.

Guest:

Steven Shalowitz

Not an actual guest today, but a virtual guest. He was my guest on Mindfulness Mode Episode 112 World Traveler Steven Shalowitz Uses Mindfulness To Embrace Cultural Differences

Quotes:

“Life should be marked by growth and completed with a celebration, not survived through struggle and departed with a mourning.”

― Joseph Rain

“Today was good.

Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one.” ― Dr. Seuss

Five Ways To Stay Mindful:

Celebrations can be one of the trickiest times to maintain mindfulness.

I've put together Five Ways To Stay Mindful At Times of Celebrations:

Habits - Be aware of your good habits and maintain them the best you

can while leading up to the celebration, during the celebration and

during your post celebration time. Even if you need to reduce the amount

of time or change the place of your habitual practice, maintaining some

aspect of that practice can help you remain grounded.

Journaling - Keep a journal and jot down your thoughts. Take 5 minutes

and record what you're thinking, what you're enjoying right now, how

you're feeling. Think of it as a diary if you like. It can help you

enjoy your experience and stay in the moment. Remember, life is a

journey and it's great to enjoy every step of the way.

Photography - Taking pictures can help you enjoy the present moment even

more. It can make you think, what am I enjoying visually right now?

Don't become obsessed where you feel like you need to be constantly

taking pictures, because this can have the opposite effect where you're

actually not enjoying the moment because you are looking for that

perfect shot.

4. Sharing - If you're with a partner or family

member, enjoy the time you're spending together. If you're not with

someone you know, you may want to share eye contact with a person in the

crowd you feel a momentary connection with. Holding hands, touching a

friend on the arm, or other types of contact you're comfortable with can

be a mindful way of enjoying the moment.

5. Quiet Time - Take a

few minutes out to slow down your thoughts. This may be meditation to

you or it may not. Maybe it's prayer. Maybe it is simply taking some

time to relax your thought process. Researchers have proven that

quieting the mind is a valuable exercise. This is a valuable part of

mindfulness.

Books:

Montreal's Expo 67 by Bill Cotter

Thank You Bonus:

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By Bruce Langford

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