Introducing a new Mindfulness Bell

Did you know? Bells are so very useful. My teacher says they're invitations to bring ourselves back to our true home, the present moment.

Here are some of my favourites, plus a new one I added today.

Plum Village mini bell

Isn't it beautiful? It even has its own cushion to sit on 馃槉. Its sound is sweet and strong and reverberating. As it is an object of great elegance and beauty, this mini bell sits on my living room table, so that it might be admired even when it is just sitting. I invite it to ring often, especially before doing a few yoga stretches. There's a technique to calm the mind using the bell that I learnt at Plum Village.

Body, speech, and mind held in perfect oneness, 
I send my heart along with the sound of the bell. 

May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness
and transcend all anxiety and sorrow.

My local church


I've never attended a service here but I live close enough to hear its bell ringing every Sunday. I enjoy that, I like the way it congregates my neighbours, the sense of community, even if I don't participate directly, I do enjoy it indirectly and find it comforting that it should exist. It gives me a sense of belonging.

Mindfulness software



My favourite is Insight Timer, an app you can download for free. I sit with this app every day, for 24 minutes at least, and twice a day if I can. There are also very useful guided meditations by Tara Brach and others, including Bodhipaksa. I came across Bodhipaksa when I was living in the UK and attended meditation classes at the Croydon Buddhist Centre. The 2 main meditation techniques practised there are Mindfulness of Breathing and the Metta Bhavana. These two practices changed my life, although I didn't realise it at the time. More on this to come, please watch this space. For more Mindfulness software options, please click here.

New mindfulness bell



This timer has lived in my kitchen for years but it's moved up to my bathroom. Why? Because my showers are too long and I can't take the gentle chimes of my mobile into the vapour-filled room. I've decided to cut my shower-time down to 10 minutes, and I'm very happy to share that today, I was showered (excluding hair), dried and dressed before it went off. I know, it isn't the friendliest of sounds, but it's a temporary measure and it's for the greater good.

Today's question: how do you remind yourself to come back to the present moment in your every day life?

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