Spiritual Practices | Lent | WEEK 1

If you’re anything like me, you may enter the Lenten season each year with different perspectives. Many of us know Lent as a time to give something up or adopt a new practice or behavior.

Some years you might fully lean in, while other years, it can be challenging to find the mental clarity to either remove things from your life or add new ones.

You might enter this season knowing exactly what you'd like to reduce and what you want to increase in your life. Yet, despite that clarity, you often find yourself doing nothing to achieve either goal.

I might think about how I want to be on my phone less, but when it comes time for the rubber to meet the road, nothing changes. Maybe you find yourself in the continuum of one of these places or all of these places.

This is what I love about Lent because it offers us a beautiful gift of intentionally taking a hard look at our lives and asking some valuable questions.

What aspects of my life are stagnant? What aspects could I reduce?

Next, I focus on what I truly want in my life. Is it a stronger connection? More time with family? More opportunities to spend time with friends? Or perhaps it's reading, exercising, or taking a daily walk.

I think for most of us, we have some clarity around these two questions. The challenge can be taking the next steps.

So this is the journey I hope we might take together over the next few weeks. Instead of saying we are going to give up "Diet Coke" or take on a spiritual discipline for the next few weeks. Let's instead capture these sacrifices and practices in the scope of 7 days, collective sacrifices, and add-ons to try together. You can lean in as much as you want with a couple of super bonus practices along the way. You can take a break for one week, discover a practice that you love, and/or just continue it for the duration of Lent. This practice is meant to give short-term opportunities to experiment with our lives. Because what often gets in our way is that sacrificing something or taking up a new practice for 40 days can be overwhelming. But I think 7 days is pretty doable.

Each week will have something you can take away/sacrifice and a spiritual/mindfulness practice that you can incorporate into your day.

You can do both or just one. It's up to you!

So here is WEEK 1: February 22-March 01

Choose a food item to give up this week.

Examples could be sweets, soft drinks, coffee, etc. 

5-4-3-2-1 Mindfulness/Spiritual practice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30VMIEmA114

Spend time each day on the 5 senses. You can choose to do this practice once a day/multiple times a day.

If you begin to notice thoughts coming into your mind, that is COMPLETELY normal. Our brains are designed to think, but we can learn to refocus our attention. Take this as an opportunity to be kind to yourself and not judge. Just notice that you are having thoughts, then redirect your attention back to the present moment.

1. Sit in a comfortable upright position with your feet planted flat on the ground. Rest your hands on your thighs or on your desk.

2. Notice your breath. No need to breathe in any particular way. Just bring attention to each part of the breath- the inhale, exhale, and space in between.

3. Bring awareness to each of your 5 senses. One at a time, for about one minute each. The point here is to focus on the present moment and how each sense is being activated in that moment. The order in which you pay attention to each sense does not matter.

Hear: Begin to notice all of the sounds around you. Try not to judge the sounds- just notice them. They are not good or bad, they just are. Sounds might be internal, like breathing or digestion. Sounds might be close by or more distant, like the sound of traffic. Are you now hearing more than you were before you started? You may begin to notice subtle sounds you did not hear before. Can you hear them now?

Smell: Now shift your attention to notice the smells of your environment. Maybe you smell food. You might become aware of the smell of trees or plants if you are outside. You might notice the smell of books or paper. Sometimes closing your eyes can help sharpen your attention.

See: Observe your surroundings and notice the colors, shapes, and textures. If you really look, you may notice things that have gone unnoticed.

Taste: You can do this one even if you have food in your mouth. You may notice an aftertaste of a previous drink or meal. You can just notice your tongue in your mouth, your saliva, and your breath as you exhale. We have tastes in our mouths that often go unnoticed. You can run your tongue over your teeth and cheeks to help you become more aware.

Touch: Last one. Bring your attention to the sensations of skin contact with your chair, clothing, and feet on the floor. You can notice the pressure between your feet and the floor or your body and the chair. You can observe temperature, like the warmth or coolness of your hands or feet. You might take time to feel the textures that you noticed by sight a moment ago. You can feel several objects on your desk to fully focus your attention on the present.

When finished, pause to notice how your body feels in this moment. Compare how you feel now with how you felt 5 minutes ago- what has changed?