Kindful Mindfulness

September always seems like a good starting place for a tabla rasa of sorts.

Maybe its because school starts up again; the harvest time gives us amazing jewels from the earth; the year is rounding its corner towards January; and the Jewish high holy holidays around this time promise a clean slate.

So I am holding on to the kindfulness in my mindfulness practice.

And holding on to a few helpful techniques for quieting my mind.

1. One helpful hint while sitting or even during peripatetic meditation is to cycle through the senses: what do I sense? What do I hear? what do I smell? What do I feel where my body touches the cushion or where my hands touch each other? When I open my eyes slightly, what do I see?

I linger with each sense and use my breath to slow down into it, and just keep going through each. I let kindfulness shine.

2. Just like I gradually ease back into exercise after an absence, I may start off with a one minute meditation that grows longer by a few minutes every day. I am kind to myself about duration.

3. If my mind is very restless, I use meditation bells on an app to remind me every minute or so to kindly bring my attention back to my breath.

What kindful mindful hints do you have?