• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • 0Shopping Cart
Renee Trudeau
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Self Renewal Groups
  • Books & Audio
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu

Mindfulness

Mindfulness
All last week I started my mornings walking around the Town Lake hike and bike trail in Austin, alone.
Being such an extrovert, I typically walk with a partner and use this early morning time for walk/talk meetings or rare windows to connect with friends I rarely get to see. After returning from my recent retreat though, I found my thoughts and demeanor so reflective that I had to be alone. I was craving my own, sweet, silent company.

As I walked and felt the gravel crunch under my Keens, dryness in my mouth and the sweat running down my back and arms, I wondered how many times have I done this walk? Hundreds? And how many times had my mind been somewhere else–focusing on the next approaching landmark, what type of taco I was going to pick up for breakfast or my growing “to do” list that awaited me back at the office?
On my walks last week, however, I played with the concept of mindfulness or “present moment living.” I noticed the smells around me–strong body odor, rotting plants, sweet honeysuckle and how brilliant the colors of the blooming cactus and blossoming flowers were that lined the path–they literally seemed to explode before my eyes. At one point, I had to stop to really take in the beauty of these cactus blooms (above)–their intensity overwhelmed me.
I also focused on the muscles in my legs–in my thighs and calves and feet and marveled at how they worked together in harmony to effortlessly carry me the 3.6 mile distance around the lake.
I noticed a slightly metallic taste in my mouth and felt my breath changing, speeding up, slowing down, but always flowing.
The thought that I could not get out of my head was–how many times have I missed amazing gifts: moments, words, facial expressions, subtle nuances in communication, missed opportunities to connect, from not being mindful? From not really using my senses to full absorb and take in what was going on in the moment?
After my mindfulness experiment last week, I wanted to hear mindfulness guru/author John Kabat Zinn and found a link to an interview he did with Oprah–check it out if this speaks to you: http://www2.oprah.com/index.jhtml.
I love the poem they referred to during their interview. I’ll include it here for you to enjoy and would love to hear how mindfulness looks throughout the course of your days.
P.S. More to come tomorrow on how my writing sabbatical has been going–the experience has been nothing less than intense. And surprising. And at times, very challenging. Surprise, surprise :).
Love After Love
The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door,
in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself. Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another,
who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs,
the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.
— Derek Walcott
July 8, 2008/2 Comments/by renee
Tags: balance, being present, john kabat zinn, life balance, oprah, slowing down
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://reneetrudeau.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/firman-kholik-4xpjrSXjBUI-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1441 2560 renee https://reneetrudeau.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/renee_trudeau_logo_tagline.png renee2008-07-08 01:42:002020-06-24 12:34:32Mindfulness
2 replies

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to my blog

 

 

Archives

Categories

Popular Blog Posts

Self-Care 101: Three Ways to Begin

This Is The Time to Take a Retreat (Here’s How)

6 Things to Do When The Going Gets Tough

Self-care is Not About Improving Yourself

Connection = Medicine. Are You Getting Your Daily Dose?

Pause. Are You Honoring Your Journey?

Feeling Out of Sorts? Start with Self-Compassion

Are You Nurturing Your Friendships (+Why You Should)?

Sign up and receive my meditation on How To Start Your Day Intentionally.

My inspiring Tuesday emails provide timely life balance tools to help you soar through your week, plus receive pre-invites to our sell-out events.

Sign up and receive my meditation on How To Start Your Day Intentionally.

My inspiring Tuesday emails provide timely life balance tools to help you soar through your week, plus receive pre-invites to our sell-out events.

Get In Touch

info@reneetrudeau.com

512-459-6700

Popular Blog Posts

Self-Care 101: Three Ways to Begin

This Is The Time to Take a Retreat (Here’s How)

6 Things to Do When The Going Gets Tough

Self-care is Not About Improving Yourself

Connection = Medicine. Are You Getting Your Daily Dose?

Pause. Are You Honoring Your Journey?

Feeling Out of Sorts? Start with Self-Compassion

Are You Nurturing Your Friendships (+Why You Should)?

Upcoming Events

March 1-31st ~ Wild Souls Nature Adventures (Blue Ridge Mountains, NC). New experiences are posted each week; keep checking back! Learn more.

April 14-16 ~ Awakening Your Wild Soul: A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Berkshire Mountains, MA). Learn more/register.

May 2023 ~ FREE Self-Care Global Summit with Renee and other self-care authors, teachers, coaches, and experts in relationships, spirituality, health & wellness and more. Registration coming soon.

May – June ~ Spring 2023 Women’s Self-Renewal Group  Small group/in person. Brevard, NC. Email us at info at reneetrudeau dot com to receive an invitation.

October 13-15th ~ Awakening Your Wild Soul: A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (Berkshire Mountains, MA). Registration coming soon!

© 2023 Renée Trudeau. Privacy Policy + Terms of Use
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Self Renewal Groups
  • Books & Audio
  • Contact
  • Facilitator Login
  • My Account
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy
Accept settingsHide notification only