Something clicked in my meditation practice this week. It happened not while I was sitting in a peaceful room or doing a lovely “walking meditation” in the park on one of those fleeting spring-like days last week… no, I felt something click as I was doing the most mundane of household chores: folding laundry.
Truly, is there more irritating a household task than folding laundry, particularly when you have a billion and one other things to do? Given my distaste for it and my tendency to get it over with as quickly as possible, it seemed the perfect task for an “everyday activity” meditation. Sharon Salzberg says that meditating while doing a routine task can be “a time of coming into the moment, paying attention to your actual experience, learning about yourself, deepening your enjoyment of simple pleasures, or perhaps seeing how you could approach a task more skillfully.”
So, as I folded towel upon towel, t-shirt upon t-shirt… as I matched each pesky little sock with its mate, I made a conscious effort to focus carefully on every step of the process, to be mindful of each and every part of the experience–the feel of the cotton, the smell of the fabric softener… the smooth clean lines of a folded towel and a neat stack of pajama pants. Before I knew it, I was actually enjoying the experience of folding laundry. I began to feel an overwhelming sense of peace, and for the entire rest of the evening, an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
Since that moment, I’ve been slowing down, keeping myself aware of the satisfaction of small tasks that I’d normally take for granted or even intentionally rush through: Making and drinking a cup of coffee. Painting a room. Sweeping a floor.
As Sharon says, “In an ordinary day we can be moving so fast that we lose touch with quieter moments that could nourish and sustain us.” I’m beginning to see what she means.
Click here to read a fascinating interview with Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation.
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