The sun was out and I was walking the fields by the village. Normally idyllic, not a care in the world. But on this occasion, I wasn’t listening to the quiet pause between call and answer from the birds. Or looking for sticky new buds on trees. Or noticing how water vapour gathers in cobwebs as you cross a stile. I was there but not there, fully lost inside my head.
So much mind activity about things at home, things at work, things I didn’t want, things I did want. I was completely unaware of my surroundings. I could have been anywhere, walking in a daze without seeing, hearing or feeling anything at all.
I only stopped walking when it struck me that I could possibly stop my brain and do a fresh reboot. On my laptop it’s easy - just press 3 functions together: Control, Alt, Delete. So, I tried it with myself.
1. Control – my breathing. In for 4, out for 5. And I repeated that a few times until the busy mind activity dissolved…
2. Alt – alter where I put my attention, moving it down from my busy mind into my body. For me I can touch this place just below my ribs. And I stayed there in that quiet place…
3. Delete – delete all thoughts as they tried to pop into my head. An unwanted thought came in, I clicked DEL, a confirmatory screen said: ‘Are you sure?’, I smiled and clicked YES!
And in the new quiet I heard the birdsong, I really saw the trees, and the cobweb was gone.
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