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How to Practice Gratitude While Cooking, Doing Laundry, and Commuting
Mindfulness practices can make your most dreaded daily chores into meditations
With the limited time we have here on Earth, it really stinks that so much of it has to be spent doing boring, pointless chores like cleaning the bathroom and paying the bills.
But while these tasks may seem like the furthest possible thing from a restorative meditation session, mindfulness experts say they are actually ripe opportunities to be present in the moment, and enjoy life more. A simple shift in perspective can help you to find joy even in these mundane experiences. And isn’t joy so much better than dread?
Here are the tangible steps mindfulness and meditation experts use to get through their most cringe-worthy chores.
Cooking
If you’re not someone who loves to cook — or just feel exhausted at the thought of assembling a meal at the end of a long day or in the run-up to a big holiday — try bringing gratitude to the practice, suggests Dr. Elisha Goldstein, founder of the Mindful Living Collective.
Pick up each ingredient and think about where it came from, and the work that went into getting it to your table. Practice appreciation and gratitude for each piece of food. Then, interact with your food with all of your senses, noting how it looks, feels, smells — and of course, tastes.
Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, co-founder of the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, suggests finding wonder in the miniscule moments, as you eat or prepare food.
He often works with people who are near death, and finds they can do this quite easily. He recalls one man’s reaction when he mentioned that he got takeout Chinese food one night. “Do they still have those boxes where you open up the top, and you take out the noodles, and it feels like magic?” the man asked. “I’m really going to miss that.”
Maybe we always knew that takeout noodles were magical. Taking the time to remember that can turn a rushed dinner into something much more joyful.
