I am not a woman who likes ironing.

Honestly, if they could genetically engineer cotton to be self-pressing I would consider it a personal gift to me.

However, this morning I woke faced with the unenviable realisation that, not only had I run out of clothes but the Ironing Basket was now spilling on to the floor. Yes, the Ironing Basket is a proper noun in my house. It holds sway over my well-being.

Now my reticence and whinging (the Aussie version of whining) is actually worse than it sounds because I only have to iron for myself. My kids live in tee-shirts, shorts and jeans and my husband irons his own clothes – he is much better at it than me. I will always remember the day he ironed one of my son’s school shirts and Jack declared “Wow, I didn’t know a shirt could look like that!”

Ironing Meditation

So, this morning, when I saw the extent of the overflow I decided to make ironing my mindfulness practice instead of a sitting meditation. I do confess to having a penchant for multi-tasking so here was the perfect opportunity. You may be wondering what on earth I am on about. Well…

Almost any day-to-day activity can be turned into an experience for centering the mind. The activities you have practiced so far make use of the normal tendency of the mind to wander away from the task at hand. By becoming aware of our meandering mind we can turn a mundane experience in an exercise in self-discovery.

I first read about this practice of mindfulness with ordinary, everyday activities with Thich Nhat Hanh and have since seen it practiced by many Dharma teachers.

Simply; the practice goes something like this:

when ironing, just iron

when washing dishes, just wash dishes

when sweeping, just sweep

when resting, just rest

Yep…I ironed and…

I planned my next lesson

I planned dinner and what I need to get in the groceries

I reminisced about a meeting at work last week and planned a response to it

I regularly thought about how much I dislike ironing

I regularly thought about which items I could leave until next time

And each time I gently brought myself back to the present moment (once I noticed I had drifted off). Oh…planning, planning. Ahh…remembering, remembering.

Then I started to get in touch with the tension I hold in my body as I iron. Wow…choosing to relax. Whew…that’s better.  Shoulders dropping back down my back and breathing more evenly again.

So…I finished the basket – yes, right to the last item. I have the glowing satisfaction of having integrated a mindfulness task with a chore. And I even have something to blog about.

These Four Foundations of Mindfulness can be used anytime, anywhere:

body

thoughts

feelings

breath