Take 5 (Minutes)
I am taking five minutes right now to sit on our deck enjoying a light and cool early morning breeze. Five minutes is a good timeframe. Not too long. Not too short. Just enough to get something out of what I put my time into.
I have been thinking about this idea of “Take 5” and what a difference 300 seconds could make if multiplied many times over by lots of people.
The picture below is a breathing activity I sometimes do with students and classes. Take five breaths. Get grounded. Release some tension. Simple, yet effective. We take over 20,000 breaths each day. Tuning into even a few can have a lasting impact on our physical and mental states, which then ripples out to our emotional and spiritual states, and puts good energy out into the world too. (I first came across this visual from Mindful Schools several years ago. Sadly, the organization closed last year. The visual is easy to find though. ) Using one’s own hand heightens the sense of presence and grounding.
Where and when else can we take five breaths, or a full five minutes, to help contribute and not contaminate? To do nothing and rest a weary body and mind. To reset and refresh. Or do something and send out helpful ripples.
Maybe you and I could take the five minutes that we would have used to scroll social media or read news clips and get pulled in to negativity, judging, or downright hate, and instead use that five minutes to do something kind for someone else. Drop a quick thank you note in the mail. Yes, the mail that needs a stamp. Call or text a friend or family member just to say hello and have a good day. Write down three things we are grateful for. Step outside and look at the sky and feel part of instead of apart from. Smile and greet five people as we walk down the street or trail, making true human connections. Start a tie blanket or clean a drawer or closet and donate items.
It’s all about the energy. What kind are we bringing to our interactions with others? What are we taking in from those around us? Are we pulling each other down or lifting each other up? We all impact what direction we are headed in collectively by the direction we are headed in individually.
Take five slow and deep breaths. Being grounded slows us down enough to make a new choice, forge a fresh path. Consider five minutes/300 seconds and actions that can be taken, contributions that can be made.
