Mindful of joy by Sujata Ray

I really needed something to take my stressed mind off the worldwide pandemic. I had done the Mindfulness Unraveled colouring posters before but not mindfully.

Now was the time to revisit them and hopefully take in the benefits of doing anything (in this case colouring-in) mindfully. The poster was open and waiting, the pencils sharpened and ready for action. I took the time to check-in with what was going on in my mind, heart and body; how I was feeling mentally and physically. Taking slow but deep breaths I started. As I coloured I observed the physical experience of colouring-in; how the pencil felt in my fingers, the sensation of colouring on my hand, wrist, shoulder, back and the rest of my body. Trying in a way, to be more in the physical present than letting the mind wander into worries of tasks undone or the uncertainty of the future.

And then the magic started to happen within me. The choosing of the pencils to convert a colourless sheet into a rainbow full of colours was wonderfully uplifting and gave me so much joy. I'm usually very impatient to complete a task but by doing mindful colouring for once I enjoyed the journey to the destination.

Now every time I want a few minutes of absolute peace and happiness, I go to my mindfulness poster and colour-in. Mindfully.

Written by

Sujata Ray

Sujata Ray is a writer and event specialist at All Lined Up.