Bells of Mindfulness

On your arrival you might hear a bell sound and suddenly people around you have stopped still, stopped talking, and stopped moving. It might be the clock chiming or the dining bell sounding. These are our bells of mindfulness. When we hear the sound of the bell we relax our body and become aware of our breathing. We do that naturally, with enjoyment, and without solemnity or being stiff.

When we hear one of these mindfulness bells ring, we stop whatever we are doing and bring our awareness to our breathing.

The ringing bell has called out to us:

my true home.

By stopping to breathe and restore our calm and our peace, we become free, our work becomes more enjoyable and the friend in front of us becomes more real. Back home we can use the ringing of our telephone, the local church bells, the cry of a baby, or even the sound of fire engines and ambulances as our bells of mindfulness. You may also install the mindfulness clock in your computer to remind you to stop and breathe (www.mindfulnessdc.org/mindfulclock.html). With just three conscious breaths we can release the tensions in our body and mind and return to a cool and clear state of being.