The first glimpse I had with mindfulness occurred 25 plus years ago when I was living in Seoul, Korea teaching English. 

I would often see elderly women/men at parks, practicing Tai Chi (a type of mindfulness in motion).

The real insight into mindfulness happened one morning, while I sat in the conference room at Samsung, waiting for my students to arrive. There was a sheet of paper on the desk explaining the practice of mindfulness by eating a raisin. The purpose was to give the raisin your full attention, beginning as a grape in the fields, the drying process, then smelling, hearing, and tasting the raisin. I recall thinking how excited I was to be educated on the art of mindfulness.

Fast forward. As I reflect today, on this awesome memory and begin to write this, I decided to google “raisin and mindfulness” in hopes of finding that same sheet of paper I discovered decades ago. LOL, after I clicked “enter” there was a ton of “raisin mindfulness and meditation” techniques that popped up. I had no clue this was, an actual “thing,” though it totally makes since!

I highly encourage anyone who’s trying to practice and/or improve “being present in the moment” to try out this raisin exercise. If you don’t have a raisin in the house, a nut can also be used (and I’m not referring to your significant other). 😊

Let’s “Raise ‘in” awareness to mindfulness!

Have a Zenatudinal Day!, Tamra Leigh