Minding Micro Meditation Moments

by Belinda Munoz on December 3, 2009

millisecond moment

These days, it seems large-scale thinking has reached mammoth measures.  Terms like “global shift”, “climate change”, “universal health care” and “Twitterverse” have found their way into our everyday vernacular that even grade-schoolers can comprehend.

Whether they’re real or speculation or a dream or a nightmare, one can argue that these are huge, uncontrollable beasts threatening to swallow us whole.

For some, it’s impossible to connect such planetary proportions to “little ol’ me” without feeling a tiny bit bogged down.

  • New Zealand, Uganda and London are but a millisecond away from San Francisco.
  • The ability to communicate instantaneously with hundreds and thousands of “followers” in limited characters is mind-boggling.
  • Hours, maybe even days are gobbled up mercilessly by the voluminous vortex of everything big.

For others, it’s unthinkable to disengage from the universe without feeling antsy, restless or isolated.  Fingers and thumbs feeling lonely without screens to touch and keys to punch.

  • Aren’t we so often pulled to do and re-do our To-Do lists?
  • Don’t our dreams consume our every waking moment?
  • Don’t our goals and our mission in life compel us to be moving, ready and reaching round-the-clock?

If we stop and think for a moment about how truly far-ranging things have become, it’s enough to make our chest tighten, our blood thicken, our breathing quicken and cause our anxiety level to rise.

For sure, big bucks have been made, or spent, or changed hands around them.  Maybe souls have even been sold over them.  Perhaps ounces and pounds of flesh have been gained and lost through them.  To say that they’re big business is an understatement.

It’s not that easy to escape their clenching claw, their tenacious tentacles, their, some may say, chokehold.  We’re lucky if we can get away to a truly rural area with no satellite, no wireless connection, and therefore no social media or cable TV, telling us tales we can’t even begin to verify, fiction we readily believe without question, facts with scientific proof we don’t want to believe.  And this doesn’t even cover the things nobody knows.

Doesn’t it all seem a bit too much, at times?

So I thought I’d take a little break from these galactic constructs and go the opposite way.  Smaller.  Way smaller.  Back to where our two feet stand.  So please, allow me to focus for a moment on the seemingly little things:

  • the sound of a sweet song reverberating by a campfire in the cool California wind
  • the crackle of kindling in a Tahoe cabin
  • the smell and taste of a freshly-peeled orange after a hike
  • the memory of a recent little triumph
  • a newborn baby’s first cry
  • your mother’s voice
  • a child’s laughter
  • a heartfelt hug
  • a tender touch

In a time…
when we’re constantly moving, perpetually pulled every which way,
when there’s a need and longing to be in several places all at once,
when the possibilites are endless,
when the details are soulless,
when demands are relentless…

Isn’t it nice to know that, at any given time, we can mind the micro meditation moments?  That we can find ourselves by losing ourselves in the little things?  It’s no unwieldy beast.  And no gadgets required.

What about you?  Do you have any micro meditation moments or big or tiny comments to share?

Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice. Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results, because there follows immediate peace. ~Bhagavad Gita

Image by alexindigo

I dedicate this post to my uncle whose kind, generous and soulful presence is no longer in body but will remain in fond memory and spirit for a long time to come.

If you’d like to help a fledgling entrepreneur in a developing country, please consider an interest-free $25 micro-loan through Kiva by clicking here.

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40 Ways to Use Time Wisely | tinybuddha.com
February 25, 2010 at 12:10 am

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Ideas With A Kick December 3, 2009 at 2:14 am

Hey Belinda,

Focusing on the small and the details can change dramatically the way we see the big picture. When I become more aware of the small things, and I realize the big ones are all small things multiplied, it creates a shift in thinking and in state.

Eduard

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2 Quinn December 3, 2009 at 9:26 am

At the end of the day every big thing we must face is a collection of small things. When we become overwhelmed it pays to step closer and look at the small parts that make up the big picture. Dealing with each element of the problem on it’s own level can be more productive then facing the situation head on.

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3 Patty - Why Not Start Now? December 3, 2009 at 10:35 am

Wow, Belinda, you’ve got some awesome alliteration going here. I agree with everything you say. I have many micro meditation moments available to me, like a few strokes of my cat’s fur, a brief dance to my favorite song, savoring the smell of a cup of coffee. But the problem is, I don’t always take them. So thanks for the reminder. And as important as they are, I do also need the big unplug, as often as I can get it.

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4 Solita December 3, 2009 at 10:56 am

In keeping up with this crazy world idolizing gadgets and machines that compress space enabling creatures, man and beasts, to be in far-away places virtually or physically we neglect or forget the more important things in life.

In my daily walks around my neighborhood I create plans in my mind when and how I could meet with people who have been part of my life in years past, my loved ones I seldom see or have not seen for a long time, friends and relatives, recalling times with them filled with laughter and hugs. That is my kind of meditation. . . . it makes me smile.

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5 Ben Leon Guerrero December 3, 2009 at 2:06 pm

Dearest Belinda,

I am like Patty and loved the alliteration in this post. The message also. My micro meditation moments usually in the form of late night walks alone, where I can smell every flower, observe every piece of the sky, and feel each breath moving in and out of my lungs.

Thank you once more.

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6 sfauthor December 3, 2009 at 6:18 pm

Nice posting. Do you know about this edition of the Gita?

http://www.YogaVidya.com/gita.html

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7 Jeanne December 4, 2009 at 10:01 pm

Wow, Belinda — I’m so glad you found me so I could find you! I love the concept of micro-meditation — something I’ve done all my life, just didn’t have a name for it. I think we can all find sweet, quiet moments in our day: washing dishes, raking leaves, that first cup of coffee. I remember stealing these short times when I was working and raising three children, and those moments were my lifeline.

My favorite time is in the garden, and from March through October that’s where I am all day every day because it’s my JOB, how awesome is that! Yep, kids are grown, I’m having MY TIME now. OK, gotta go, got lots of your site to explore :)

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8 Miche - Serenity Hacker December 6, 2009 at 9:04 pm

Hi Belinda! This was awesome… I could hear the bird and smell the orange. Yes, this instantaneously connected world of big ideas and fast changing hands is enough to make one’s head spin if you try to hard to grasp it all. Plus, the invention of things that speed things up to make life “easier” actually keep us busier, hectic, and give us more to do. Which, when you think about it, really isn’t so easy after all.

And your closing poetic thought… that was powerful. Pulled in every direction, having to be everywhere, where “the details are soulless” and the “demands are relentless”… really, really powerful. It’s still reverberating… I’ll definitely be coming back to it.

Thanks for sharing this with me. :)

Cheers,
Miche

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