The Urgency of *Right Now*

Listen to this guided mindfulness practice on: Working with Urgency.

There are so many other things that we could be doing right now. Maybe notice, even as you sit down to read this, if there are other things that you want to be doing or feel like you should be doing, right now. Maybe you’re feeling the urgency of your to-do list.

Ask yourself, is there anything that would support me in being more present right now? Maybe it’s simply shutting the door, or closing the email window on your screen. Give yourself permission to be here, to the extent that you can.

What I have to offer you is a practice, and also a mindset. One of the foundations of mindfulness is practicing how to allow things to be as they are. In a recent Mindful Schools faculty meeting, someone offered a definition of mindfulness that they’d read: “mindfulness is noticing plus acceptance.” In the guided audio below, we’ll practice noticing and allowing. We’ll notice what’s happening, and then intentionally bring a quality of allowing things to be, just as they are.

It’s important to note that mindfulness is not about just accepting things and saying, everything’s fine, no need to do anything here. When we look around in our schools, for example, we acknowledge that there are a lot of conditions that are unacceptable. Mindfulness doesn’t mean we should just allow these unacceptable conditions to be. Instead, in our actual mindfulness practice, we can cultivate a sense of not having to do and fix and change everything right away, right now, to not feel that sense of urgency which sometimes will lead us to rush to action that is unwise, or try to push systems to do things that they’re not ready for yet. Instead, with mindfulness, we develop a capacity to be measured in what kind of changes we bring about, and to bring about that change in a skillful, sustainable way.

Listen to the full practice:

Mindful Schools is committed to supporting educators in their personal mindfulness practice. Join our monthly community practice, which begins with a short talk and guided practice, followed by Q&A with members of our Mindful Schools faculty.

* Join the Mindful Schools Community Practice, hosted live on the first Wednesday of each month. *

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