I spent several minutes describing in great detail every aspect of my physical symptoms, how they impacted my daily routine, my thinking, my motivation, and my feelings. My friend who masterfully hears the information presented and responds with a one sentence summary of key points, said, “You were sick.”

I laughed. All most people would say summed up in three words.

I practiced Minute Mentastics for more than half of my life before beginning this writing project.

I know they are effective tools to pause the often frantic mental activity of day to day life. I take breathing seriously using different rhythms of inhale and exhale to manage the routine stresses of existence on a planet with other human beings. When life altering traumas occurred in my family, I learned how to be present to the moment. My body registers pain and I immediately grow curious, an automatic pattern of self discovery.

The words of my friend woke me up to the rest of the story.  Every experience has context.

I live in this body, argue with this mind, and experience these feelings, while also part of the much larger soup of souls around me at any given moment. I crank up the music on long solo drives and sing loudly thinking I am alone in my car world.

Next long drive I will look around to see who is singing with me.

 Mentastics Minute:

The next time you find yourself sharing personal information with a friend, pause for one minute (tell your friend what you are doing) and picture yourself in your location as a small part of your neighborhood or city. See that personal location within the larger geography of your country and other living creatures there. Observe your country as a piece of your home planet. Observe shifts in thoughts or feelings. Where do you these thoughts and feelings live in your body?

Additional play: Catch a glimpse of your home planet continuously moving through the universe while you stand still talking with a friend.