Mindfulness with Flowers
My favorite definition of mindfulness comes from John Kabat Zinn who defines mindfulness as “non-judgmental present moment awareness.” Being in the present moment, without judgment and with awareness of the here and now. I combine fresh flowers and mindfulness because flowers are a powerful way to bring us into the present moment. Here are 5 reasons why flowers are a great tool for mindfulness:
Flowers offer a rich tactile experience.
I guide my Floral Healing coaching clients to connect with flowers in a mindful way, which includes touching the petals and stems, noticing the temperature sensations, smelling them and even hearing the noises they make when you move them in the vase. When you do any of these mindful activities, your brain focuses on the object in front of you: the flowers. This helps slow down overthinking and calm your mind, body and spirit.
Flowers are an anchor in your mindfulness practice.
A common anchor in mindfulness is the breath or your breathing. In a Guided Flower Meditation, we also utilize flowers as an anchor. Anchors help ground us when we get distracted and provide something to focus on when the mind wanders, which it inevitably will during meditation.
Flowers are something to focus on outside of yourself.
Sometimes people struggle with meditation or mindfulness because when they slow down and practice mindfulness or meditation, they are left with all their thoughts. It can be easier to focus on something outside of yourself to start with. You’ll find that the more you engage with the flowers, the more comfortable you’ll become with yourself and your thoughts.
Flowers meet you where you’re at.
Mindfulness is about meeting yourself in the present moment and letting go of thoughts about the past or the future. Flowers embody this present moment awareness. As they are in a vase, they aren’t clinging to when they were still in the ground and they aren’t worried about wilting. They simply are. They are exactly as they are at this moment.
Flowers represent impermanence.
They don’t live forever and they change over time. The same is true for us. Oftentimes we want to cling to the present moment when it’s good and make it last forever and when we are struggling, we want to move past it and may fear we won’t be able to. Flowers remind us that feelings are temporary, this life experience is temporary, so we must mindfully decide how we want to live.
Try adding flowers to your mindfulness practice and see how it goes. Notice all the ways flowers bring your awareness into the present moment. If you want to experience the benefits of meditating with flowers, join me at one of my upcoming Guided Flower Meditations online. I will guide you through a mindfulness meditation with fresh flowers and you’ll be able to see first hand how flowers are an amazing tool for mindfulness.