It’s so easy to over-complicate things. Esoecially for me! I love digging into a topic, learning about it, and coming up with new ideas and theories around it. Mindfulness and meditation are perfect examples.

If you want to read about meditation and mindfulness, I could easily give you a list of my top 100 books on the topic. On the other hand, if you want to be more mindful, you don’t need to read a single book. You just need one simple question – the magic mindfulness question: what’s happening?

“What’s happening” is a wonderful question because it’s wide open. It assumes nothing. It doesn’t point you in any direction. You could add some specificity to it if you like, but it’s not necessary.

You could ask:

• what’s happening in my body right now?
• what’s happening between me and my partner these days?
• what’s happening emotionally with me today?
• what’s happening with the weather?
• what’s happening in nature?
• what’s happening at work?
• what’s happening with my pursuit of my goals?

What’s happening could mean what’s happening this very second, this minute, or this month.

What’s happening could mean inside of me, outside of me, or with other people.

It could mean what am I doing or even why am I doing it.

It’s a question that engenders a slight pause and a look around. And pausing and looking around pretty equates with mindfulness. Especially when you do consistently.

So that’s today’s practice – the simplest one of all. Ask yourself the magic mindfulness question, right now, what’s happening?

Ask it again in 5 minutes. Ask it 100 times a day. Or 1000 times – I don’t care. Just ask it! Make it a practice. Make it a habit.

One more time…

What’s happening?