A note before we start.

If you are new to this mailing list (welcome!) or want to explore more ways of bringing Mindfulness into your leadership, just head to the Practical Guidance page of the website. Here you’ll find past editions of these ‘mindful letters’ including how to savour joy, be kind to yourself and find resilience in the world of school leadership. But for now, let’s turn to chocolate…

Happiness. Simple as a glass of chocolate.
Bitter. Sweet. Alive.

Joanne Harris, ‘Chocolat’

How to cultivate presence, by eating chocolate…

Our minds wander a lot. They take us on a ‘mental safari’ into the past or the future, ruminating over mistakes or worrying about that which has not yet happened. Unfortunately, they often land on that which is negative and, as a result, we can become more reactive, judgmental and act based on old habits of thinking. Or, as Killingsworth and Gilbert put it, “a human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost.”

So, thinking about what is not happening, robs us of what is happening, in the present moment. It limits the opportunity to be fully awake and aware to what is going on around us. To savour that which is lovely and to be able to meet with wisdom and composure that which is tough. 

When we fall into ‘mind wandering’ as leaders we are only partially here, not present to ourselves and - importantly - not present to others. We lead as if in a mental parallel universe, caught up in rumination and distraction. It erodes our wellbeing affecting our mood, our thoughts and our actions. Ultimately, it comes at a cost to our leadership and those we lead.

So how can we settle the wandering mind, even if just for a moment? Here’s how Mindfulness (and chocolate!) can help…

Settling the wandering mind.

One of the first introductory exercises in ‘Mindfulness based stress reduction’ is the ‘raisin exercise’, where participants are invited to bring full awareness to something we do everyday, often without thinking - or in other words ‘mindlessly’. 

They are invited to open up their senses, and slow down the process of eating a raisin, so they can fully savour it, moment by moment. They start to experience what being truly present is like, through training attention and widening perception. For a moment, they settle the wandering mind.

So, with Easter coming up, why not take the opportunity to practice with chocolate? Here’s how….

A note on this practices. These are very simply an opportunity for you to try a practice and see what happens without expectation. Self judgment and doubt may arise in thoughts such as “am I doing this right?” or “I am not sure this is for me”. Notice these thoughts and, as best you can, be curious, be kind to yourself and let them go!

The ‘chocolate’ exercise.

Open up all your senses.

Place a piece of chocolate on your hand. Feel its weight. Notice the contact it makes with the skin.

Look at it. Its edges, how the light catches it, the way the colour changes. Smell it. Does the smell change as you bring it closer to you? What does the smell evoke in you? Notice how the mind will wander to stories of previous chocolate experiences, or even self doubt. Try come back to this one piece of chocolate, this one moment, right now.

Take your time.

Notice the impulse to rush, or hurry. Instead try, as best you can, to slow down the experience. Move your hand and arm slowly to bring it to your mouth – notice the muscles involved in this small action.

Savour the experience.

Place the chocolate in your mouth and open up your sense of taste – as the chocolate starts to melt, notice the mind questioning, jumping around, and the impulse to ‘get on with it’. Stay with the chocolate simply on your tongue for as long as you can.

Now move to swallow it – notice the myriad of muscles involved in swallowing and follow the chocolate all the way down to the stomach if you can.

Sit

What are you left with? What taste, smell and sensation now lingers? Stay with it, savour it fully. One of the great outcomes of this exercise is that you are less likely to eat the best part of a box of chocolates without even realising it!

But this doesn’t start and end at chocolate. Why not choose one very simple daily action in school or the office and bring yourself into full presence, into one micro moment? Drinking a cup of coffee? Switching on the laptop? Picking up a pen? Walking up the stairs? Slow it down, ever so slightly and notice it fully. One headteacher I have worked with developed a great personal mantra for this –

Right now I’m doing this one thing, fully present, and doing it well. 

Worth a try?

Also, if you have time to go further, Amishi Jha’s brilliant TedX talk ‘How to Tame the Wandering Mind’ look at some of the science of attention and mind wandering and our tendency to fall back into ‘auto pilot’. Definitely worth a watch.

A poem to leave you with…

Want to develop your leadership practice further?

Just head to the Courses page of the website! Here you’ll discover bespoke courses suited to the needs of you and your team, designed to help build resilience, find gratitude and better serve the adults and children in your school.

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Maggie
maggie@maggiefarrar.co.uk