How to bring it home.

Mindfulness is easy on vacation.  Nothing to do but wander from moment to moment, soaking in and savoring the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of the world around you.  

You’ve probably heard the quote, ‘Build a life you don’t need a vacation from.’  To be honest I get the point but it’s always annoyed me.  No matter how much I love my life (which I do), I will always need vacations.  

With mindfulness I don’t travel to escape my life, I travel to expand. I use it as an opportunity to expand my mindfulness practice, and remind myself how richly we can experience the present moment.  Because, inevitably when we have some semblance of routine, we easily fall into auto-pilot and out of mindfulness practice.  

A vacation doesn’t have to be some far away place either.  Even taking a weekend trip somewhere new, exploring regional parks or taking a new hike.  There’s something about getting into a new space of curiosity and exploration that brings out mindfulness.  Time spent traveling or on vacation gives an important reminder of what we need to nurture all year round – savoring.  

Life isn’t meant to be lived in cycles of feast or famine.  

Before I learned mindfulness that’s how I felt.  Living for 5 o’clock, the weekends, living for vacations.  It’s like we give ourselves permission to just be present with our senses in the moment – precisely 1-2 times per year for 7 days.  Or maybe if we’re lucky, one day on the weekend that isn’t also filled with chores and errands.

For most people who are employed, it’s tough to escape the capitalist wheel that inevitably schedules every minute of the day if we aren’t careful.  And this is why we need mindfulness ALL the time.  It’s also why we need vacations to bring us back even deeper into practice.

So how do you bring mindfulness back from vacay to the grind of daily to-do’s?  

Read on my friend!

1. Stay in the present moment.  Both on and off vacation.  Don’t let ‘skipping ahead’ or craving get in the way of enjoying whatever is right in front of you.  Don’t let the ‘dread’ of future moments ruin your current one.  Keep your attention right where it is.
2. Find gratitude in all aspects of your life and don’t discount the positives of your daily routine.  Many of us take for granted the things we have available to us that many in the world don’t.  Find sufficiency in your life as it is, and expand from there.  A roof over your head, food to eat, warm water, a soft pillow.
3. Let go of judgments and comparisons.  When we evaluate ourselves and our lives as ‘less than’ or ‘not enough’ it’s a recipe for misery and CRAVING the binge of sweet stuff that we can find on weekends or vacations.  Again, let your life be as it is (make adjustments as needed of course) without judging it as ‘terrible’ or ‘unbearable’ or ‘not enough yet’.
4. Come into your 5 senses during daily tasks.  When washing the dishes, driving to work, exercising, folding laundry – bring all your awareness into your senses.  Get out of your head and into your body.

Since I started practicing mindfulness I’ve come to love and appreciate my life more and more.  It creates a sense of sufficiency in all that is present.  It also helps us move more effectively towards the changes we want to make and things we’d like to see more or less of (Judging and complaining are easier, but making active changes is more effective).

I would love to hear from you how mindfulness brings more satisfaction to your daily life, as well as how you use it while traveling or on vacation!  Share your comments below.