Your weekly mindfulness reminder – on a pebble!
To help you focus your mindfulness practice, collect a virtual pebble every week. These beautiful, sometimes quirky, sometimes pithy, reminders of how to live in the moment (like a child collecting pebbles) will pop into your inbox for free when you sign up for our newsletter.
I would like to thank you, very much, for your weekly posts … occasionally the content is so poignant to what’s happening on a personal level, that I cannot but feel a huge amount of gratitude to the work you do and the love you have for your community.” Clara, Mindfulness Pebble subscriber
Read the story of the mindfulness pebble and check out readers’ favourites – or sign up now.
The story of the mindfulness pebble
When you were a child, did you collect pebbles on the beach – or pick them out of the streams you paddled in?
There’s something deeply satisfying, even for the adult hand, about the smoothness and the shape of a water-rounded pebble. Maybe you built miniature dams or pools in the streams or the sea, left cairns of pebbles to mark where you’d been, or dropped them into quiet pools to watch the ripples they made.
You can use pebbles for meditation too, as Zen Monk Thich Nhat Hanh describes in his lovely book of meditations for children, A Handful of Quiet, Happiness in Four Pebbles.
Now you can collect a virtual pebble every week – a beautiful, sometimes quirky, and sometimes pithy, reminder of how to live in the moment (like a child collecting pebbles) and how to be kind to yourself and others. And you can do this without even leaving your home.
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for my weekly pebbles! I love them and find them so helpful. I regularly recommend the Moment is Now to people.” Sarah, Mindfulness Pebble Subscriber
Readers’ favourite pebbles…
We asked readers to tell us which pebbles they liked best – and why. Here are some of their replies.
Nicola’s favourite pebble
“I made a decision back in May that – if I had taken just a moment to stop, think and look at the situation – would have been different and a more positive experience in my life.
Unfortunately, I am still dealing with the impact … a lesson learnt even at age 48!
“I now use mindfulness practice to have time out, a calm mind and better focus which helps in making the right decision each time for me.”
Read this pebble (opens in a new window)…
Tara’s favourite pebble
“It’s been a tough few months for me having had surgery on both feet (at the same time! I’m crazy!). My favourite pebble was about refreshing your mind. I was off my feet and in pain but the reminders to come back to the present with a cup of tea and, when I was able to be upright, to tune into the sensations in my feet, really helped me to feel grounded and balanced when I most needed it!
“I love your newsletters and updates as a nudge in the right direction – thank you!”
Read this pebble (opens in a new window)…
Joanne’s favourite pebble
“…as a leader, I found this really important to share with my team, to encourage them to hit ‘pause’ in their day, to put a 5-minute slot into their diary each day and pause the noise. Turn off the Wifi and pause the emails, texts, WhatsApp chatter and calls and take the five minutes to focus on breathing and being present.
“…they have told me that now, when they are busy and the noise feels overwhelming, they naturally pause without thinking and breathe through it.
“So thank you for this pebble, it has not only helped me but also my very busy team and we now share the mindfulness pebbles in our meetings – it’s top of the agenda in my company!”
Read this pebble (opens in a new window)…
SC’s favourite pebble
“This helped me so very much after I was violently assaulted and left with a broken ankle. I wasted time trying to figure out why me. This pebble reminded me that it wasn’t in my power to know just yet. I suspended it and rested.
“…the mindfulness pebbles became such an important part of my healing and always appeared just when I needed them most.”
Read this pebble (opens in a new window)…
Heather’s favourite pebble
“I frequently go back to this particular one since there is a choice of five practices to choose to help me chill and settle my mind.
“Mostly I listen to the 20-minute body scan when in bed at night. I find this works very well being able to focus on particular parts of the body from your feet to your head, as Gillian talks you through the session; her voice is very calming. It usually helps me relax before I fall asleep and I’ll also listen to it to if I waken in the night to help me fall back to sleep again.”
Read this pebble (opens in a new window)…