Mindfulness is to be aware at all times of your actions, your body, your thoughts. It frees our mind from dispersion to allow us to fully experience every minute of life.

In his book The miracle of mindfulness (1), Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh perfectly illustrates mindfulness by taking the example of an activity that few of us find pleasant: washing dishes.

He suggests that when we wash the dishes, we should… wash the dishes! That’s all.

We should be fully aware that we are washing our dishes.

He explains: “When we clean the plates, if we only think about what awaits us – a cup of tea for example – we will try to get rid of the dishes as soon as possible. This becomes a real chore, a frankly unpleasant moment […] during all this time, we are not really alive, because completely ignorant of the fact that it is an authentic miracle of life to be standing there near. from the sink! The problem is this: if we don’t know how to do the dishes, it’s a safe bet that we won’t be able to enjoy our cup of tea either. “

If for some, these words may seem too mystical, in terms of concentration, we have a lot to learn from Zen masters!