Antidote to Busyness: Think Less, Sense More

In my never ending quest to infuse 'Calm' into the over-scheduled lives of  children and families everywhere, as I was doing some research,  I came across this article written by Leo Babauta, author of the "Zen Habits"  blog and the book, The Power of Less. (In case you are not familiar with Mr. Babauta, he also brought attention to The 100 Things Challenge, which is a method of working toward a simpler way of life. The challenge is to reduce personal possessions to 100 items or fewer.)

This article spoke to me for 2 reasons. First because it was written simply.

Secondly, I was encouraged by the fact that the article is right along the lines of the adaptive yoga program objectives of sensory integration & self-calming for the challenged children we work with.

The article is directing us to 'unplug' from our mental distractions and be in touch with our senses in order to put all the parts of our lives into perspective and enjoy all of it more. In essence, to think less & sense more.

In this way, Mr. Babauta guides us to a powerful tool for fostering calm, happiness & improving every moment of our busy lives, and subsequently the lives of all of our children. Underneath all of the 'busyness', isn't this what we all really want?

In order for us to teach this to our children, we have to first learn it ourselves. The more we practice, the more natural it will feel to us. The more natural it becomes to us the more our kids will follow our lead.

I highly recommend the "Zen Habits" blog as a useful resource for busy people: parents & educators; thinkers & sensors; learners & teachers.

See Leo Babauta's article "Improving Every Moment" here.