Meditate Awake

No time to meditate today? Not true! Do this right now to incorporate a moment of meditative work into your day: Place the palm of your hands again a textured surface. It could be a tree, the fabric of your chair or clothing, a wall, or any other surface available to you. If possible, close your eyes — but if you’re doing this practice with other people around, it’s fine to keep them open. In that case just allow your vision to soften and become slightly hazy. Focus your awareness on the sensations you feel in the palm of the hand. The connection between the hand and that surface, and the different elements of texture that you can identify. Become aware of the landscape of the texture beneath the hand. And keep this focus for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, take the hand away from that surface and rest it on something with a smoother texture, like your desk or even the back of your phone. Notice the change in sensation. And then take one deep breath and carry on with your day.