My First Experience of Mindfulness Wasn’t Meditation
My first experience of mindfulness didn’t happen in meditation. It happened on the floor of my childhood home, tracing the patterns in our rugs.
Arab and Islamic design is rich in geometric shapes. As a child, I would sit and follow the lines with my fingers as the patterns repeated and unfolded. Without realizing it, that was probably my first experience of being fully present.
Over time, I’ve started to see art less as something to look at and more as something to sit with.
The same piece can reveal something different depending on where you are in life. At one stage, it might spark curiosity, then years later, it might evoke nostalgia or clarity.
The artwork hasn’t changed, but you have.
No two people experience art the same way. You can stand next to someone, looking at the exact same piece, and walk away with completely different reactions. Each is shaped by your own memories, experiences, and state of mind.
Recently, I came across a practice that encourages people to spend 10 intentional minutes with a single artwork. Not analysing or trying to “understand” it, but just sitting with it.
In a world that constantly pushes us to move faster, ten quiet minutes of observation may be the simplest form of mindfulness we have. I’ll link the practice in the comments below.
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