Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

the burner elements and the pans underneath, even
the knobs, and soak them in the sink, to be tackled at
the end. Then I scrub every square inch of stove
surface, favoring a circular motion at times, at others,
a back and forth. It all depends on the location and
topology of the crud. I get into the round and round or
the back and forth, feeling the motion in my whole
body, no longer trying to clean the stove so it will look
nice, only moving, moving, watching, watching as
things change slowly before my eyes. At the end, I
wipe the surfaces carefully with a damp sponge.
Music adds to the experience at times. Other times, I
prefer silence for my work. One Saturday morning, a
tape by Bobby McFerrin was playing in the cassette
player when the occasion arose to clean the stove.
So cleaning became dancing, the incantations,
sounds, and rhythms and the movements of my body
merging, blending together, sounds unfolding with
motion, sensations in my arm aplenty, modulations in
finger pressure on the scrubber as required, caked
remains of former cookings slowly changing form and
disappearing, all rising and falling in awareness with
the music. One big dance of presence, a celebration
of now. And, at the end, a clean stove. The voice
inside that ordinarily claims credit for such things
("See how clean I got the stove") and seeks approval