For 15 minutes, my granddaughter Sophie filled and refilled her shoe and watched the sand spill out the sides. She barely looked up. Her focus was exquisite to witness. Then she got up and walked. She noticed how her foot made impressions in the sand. She pointed to my footprint and hers.
The beach, the wind, the sounds of the gulls, the smell of the salt water with an 18 month old taking it all in. 2 hours on the beach with this kid and I felt like I’d just completed a weekend meditation retreat.
Grown ups take expensive courses to get back to this level of focused attention. Once our prefrontal cortex comes online and we can reflect on past and future, this level of focus goes to hell in a hand basket as our neuroses and to do lists take over.
If you’re struggling with meditation and seeing how your type’s mental patterns co-opt your ability to stay in the present moment, watch babies and toddlers play (in a non-creepy way, of course). They’re little Zen masters.
Mindful Baby
