One of my favorite teachers, Larry Yang, once talked about mindfulness by comparing the mind and body to a snow globe. In everyday life, he said, the activities of the mind are like the little filaments inside it. Whatever is occurring in our lives pulls our attention and energy in many directions—and this isn’t a negative thing. It’s simply what it means to be alive, to be a human being. The outside stimuli and activities of our lives are like someone shaking the snow globe of our minds, and we can feel scattered, like the little bits inside when the globe is being shaken.
What’s really beneficial about mindfulness meditation, and the practice of mindfulness in general, is that it offers us an opportunity to create some space—a time when we can allow the snow globe—our minds, our bodies, our hearts—to just stop. When we give ourselves the gift of practicing meditation, we give ourselves a place to be still. Not doing our work, not talking or relating—just dedicating time to practice so the snow globe can settle.
And when you stop shaking a snow globe, the little pieces of snow inside begin to settle. They fall to the bottom, and there’s some clarity, some stillness. We can create a similar effect in our own lives. When we give ourselves this space for practice, we offer ourselves the possibility of clarity and awareness around our thoughts and experiences. The little filaments of the snow globe don’t disappear. Our minds are still there. But there’s a surrounding spaciousness—a pause. A gentle acknowledgment that this, too, is happening. Our perspective widens. In this way, we plant seeds for more calm and more acceptance, growing our ability to ride the waves of experience, during the holidays and other busy times in our lives.
Warmly,
Eileen Ybarra