Mindful sitting

Just as Astrid Lindgren writes above: take the time (have to!?!) and just sit there. And what.. don’t do anything? yes. Nothing. BEING and not DOING or HAVING anything. No, no. Just BEING, here and now… and breathe.

In all the workshops, whether with students, with teachers or even with adults, we practice together what “mindful (and healthy) sitting” is. Because we sit so long during the day, it’s one of the first exercises. And we repeat them. Because as Maria Montessori has observed and as brain research also proves: the repetition of an exercise, an activity and a movement, causes a stronger formation of synapses in the brain and these are stored. What happens? that this new exercise will eventually become a matter of course through repetition, such as learning to ride a bicycle.

What we pay attention to together when sitting mindfully is:

– a straight back (caution, no hollow cross)

– Imagine that you have a golden thread along the spine and it pulls you up, high, up to your head crown. ???????????????? Give it a try, you’ll be amazed at how tall you suddenly are!

– Make sure your shoulder is relaxed. As a test, you can pull your shoulder one time up to your ears and bam! down again. There can be your shoulder and above all quite relaxed.

– Speaking of relaxed…. what does it look like in your jaw? Or the tongue? Is it loosely at the bottom?

– Place your feet on the ground, completely flat.

– You don’t need to lean. Sigh very loudly.

– Be careful, look again for your straight back and shoulders. Everything cool?

– Then close your eyes very gently, put your hands on your stomach.

– And breathe where your hands are. Inhale once. And exhale. Then again…. and again. And exhale, out, out, oooouuut.

That’s it for the beginning. It doesn’t have to be more than that. Having to do something is usually rather uncomfortable. Gladly tomorrow again or maybe briefly at the dining table together, before you start eating.

Think about when you can add mindful sitting to your day for a short while. Just like brushing your teeth. At some point, it is part of your everyday life. ????