They Say "You Can Do Anything For 60 Seconds"

I don't know if anyone struggles with meditation like I do. For me, meditation is an exercise in stress induced anxiety. I just cannot sit quietly for any great length of time and not think. Yet, I do appreciate the mental health benefits of being able to access a quiet space in one's mind.

Often, through the day, we are running from this place to that, either literally, or within the confines of our minds. Does it ever feel like you have a traffic jam going on inside your head from the "to-do" list to the "will-do " list to the "tomorrow" list?

Getting into the practice of 60 seconds of mindfulness can be a powerful tool in grounding our mind-jams and, I have found, a very doable meditation practice. Simply set a timer on your watch or phone and for 60 seconds look around and just see. Call out what is in your vision, "I see a green tree", "I see a sand box", "I see kids playing", "I see books", etc. If your mind wanders back to your lists, just quietly recalibrate back to what you see. Surprisingly, we sometimes see things we hadn't before that ignite our curiosity, which can also be a fun practice of mindfulness.

60 seconds away from the lists won't create any more "to-do" "will-do" or "oops don't have time to do" items in your day, and just might create space to be more productive.