What If We Made The Mundane Into Meditation?

07:07

What If We Made The Mundane Into Meditation?

by Zachary Phillips

Rated

5

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

7

In this session, we explore the idea that most of life is ordinary, repetitive, and seemingly mundane. But what if instead of endlessly seeking peek experience after peek experience, we instead embraced the mundane as meditation or even perhaps as a prayer? What would that do to our lived experience? How would we experience life? Lets explore together.

Meditation Mindfulness Prayer Anxiety Reduction Digital Detox Breathing Goal Setting Present Moment Focus Mindful Breathing

Meet your Teacher

Zachary Phillips

Melbourne VIC, Australia

Meet your Teacher

Zachary Phillips

Melbourne VIC, Australia

Transcript

So the simple truth is that life is mostly mundane. Right? If you actually take stock of the amount of time you spend doing things, By time, By duration, Most of it is spent sleeping, Traveling, Eating, Spending quiet time with family, Just chilling. Right? Realistically, Most of our time is spent just existing, Studying, Working, Just going through the day-by-day moments. But we have this tendency to, With our memory and with our goals, Prioritize like massive achievements, Big things, These peak moments. And fair enough, Because, You know, They stand out, They're memorable, And it's what we hold on to. It's like the building blocks of our existence. It's exciting. But if we only focus on those big moments, If we only have those big goals, We get to the end and go, Oh, This is great. But how long does that end actually last? How long are we satisfied when we've reached that mountaintop? Have you ever accomplished a goal, Big or small? Right? Chances are you have. Chances are you've successfully completed something. How long does that good feeling last, Realistically? How long does the elation, The satisfaction, The joy, The yes feeling go for? Chances are quite small. Chances are not that long. Chances are you peak and then you drop. And this is a biological imperative. Research suggests that we are not primed. We didn't evolve to stay satisfied. Why? Because staying satisfied doesn't keep us, Well, Searching for food, Searching for shelter, Sustaining the growth of life. If we become satisfied, We stop. If we stop, We risk evolutionary danger, Right? If we don't protect ourselves because we're satisfied, The lion comes and eats us. So we are primed to not be happy with our accomplishments. We get a little bit happy and then it falls away. So we set those goalposts again and again and we're on this constant search. So this is why it's better to focus on the journey, Not the destination. Yeah? If you like the journey towards the top of the mountain, Then you're satisfied now and now and now. And when you get to the top and when you're coming back down, You are happy with the process. So a way around that or a way to sort of embrace that in our everyday life is to make a meditation of the mundane. Try this. The next time you are washing your dishes, Really feel the water deeply, Feel the warmth of your skin. Look at the transformation of dirty to clean. When you're vacuuming your house, When you're sorting your clothes, When you're traveling to and from work, Take note, Take stock, Turn off the music or the talks or the podcasts or the videos or whatever other inputs you've got going on. Put your phone on aeroplane mode so you're not on social and just be. Make a meditation of the mundane. Every moment is an opportunity for freedom. So how do we do this in practice? We focus on the present moment. From a mindfulness perspective, We choose an anchor. If we go back to the washing of the dishes example, The act of doing the dishes itself becomes the anchor. Our mind wanders, We bring it back. Our mind wanders, We bring it back. That's the practice. Our goal is to just stay focused on what we're doing and be there for it. That's a mindfulness approach. But what about the idea of using our practice as a form of prayer, As a form of honoring, As devotion? Well, Rather than just quickly scrubbing the dishes, We do it as an act of deep, Utter spiritual self-care, Almost like a prayer. This action is an offering. This process is divine. In that way, We start to make these mundane moments, Well, More than just mundane. The process of general existence in life becomes something special. If you do this process, If you make the mundane into a meditation, If you have mindful focus or you treat it like a devotional practice, If you sit and embrace silence rather than distraction, You will find that your life starts to open up. Your resting anxiety will drop and you'll start noticing things within you, Within others, And within the world. There's an expanse that happens because you're actually living your life rather than trying to go from peak experience to peak experience and just blocking off everything. You know, We're clouding in front of our face. Instead, We're going, No, This is my life, This very moment, Right now, Here, This, This is it. I'm going to be here now. I am here now, Again and again and again and again. So I ask you, Let's sit one minute right now together in silence. How much more mundane can we get than a moment spent digitally connecting to someone? Just silently connecting, Focusing on the breath. If your mind wanders, Just gently, Lovingly bring it back to this moment. Let's give it a try. So how did you go? I encourage you to bring this practice into your day. If you find yourself bored, If you find yourself moving to distraction, If you find yourself picking up the phone to scroll social and you didn't quite mean it, Consider that as a cue, As a prime. Oh, Now's the time. Now's the time to practice an act of mindfulness, One mindful breath, Or can I turn this behavior, Whatever I'm doing, Into a prayer, Into an act of devotion, Into an act of self-care. And watch, Watch as your life opens up and expands and satisfaction will reign because you're no longer living in a state of dissatisfaction. If you're aiming for the goal, Unless you're in the goal, You're unhappy. But what if this moment is the goal, And the next, And the next, And the next, And the next, And the next, And you're always happy, Right? Give it a try. Let me know what you think. Catch ya.