Mindful Chickens #1: How to make a Mindful Chicken
Hello friends -
About eight years ago I passed out while at an event in downtown Toronto. I felt a pain in my body and I thought I was about to have a heart attack. I ended up in an ambulance being taken to the ER where they found nothing medically wrong with me. I had just experienced my first panic attack. My mind had jumped to a conclusion about my mortality and the stress of that caused me to lose consciousness.
Over the next few years it would happen a few more times. And as a way of coping I began dipping my toes into mindfulness. Being able to calm myself down and truly recognize what was coming up felt, in those moments, truly like a matter of life and death.
But in the years since, I’ve realized that it’s not just breath and stillness that help me remain centered, but play and creativity do as well. When my kids were younger I loved being around them while they played. My eldest son Moses was a Hot Wheels car fanatic. Whole stories would take place amongst his metal toy cars, complete with whispered dialogue and intense action. For my younger son Charlie it was Lego. Different toys, but the same outcome. Stories and worlds would unfold in front of him too. My kids would be be the ones holding their toy cars or their Lego figures, but it was as if the toys were the ones who who actually controlling my kids. The stories became alive and act of play was simply an exercise in channeling. In those days of parenting young kids I would try and position myself as close to them as possible while they played. Being near them gave me a contact high and left me with a tingly feeling of calm. I came to crave those moments. It helped me block out anxiety and worry, and allowed me to just be.
It’s not much of a hot take to say that as an adult most of us have lost that sense of being able to truly play without thinking about it. I certainly have. But it’s something that I’ve tried consciously to reintroduce in my life. Through practices that are rooted in mindfulness, particularly those that also include an element of play, I feel like I’m better able to prime my creative mind for whatever adventures lie ahead.
I still feel anxious, but through these practices I’m able to notice and process it better. The anxiety doesn’t overwhelm me anymore. It still pops up from time to time, but in those moments when it presents itself it no longer becomes all that I am.
One of my favourite practices to help fuel this state is one that I've come to call Mindful Chickens. I’ve broken it down as a recipe, so if you’re game to follow along, here’s what you do:
Mindful Chicken Recipe
Prep: 30 seconds
Cook: 5-10 minutes
Servings: 1
Ingredients
Something to draw on. It can be a fancy piece of parchment paper or an old pizza box from your recycling bin. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you can draw on it.
Something to draw with. Again a fancy feather quill would be fine, as would a really dull crayon. Anything will work.
A comfortable place to sit.
A little bit of time.
An openness to discovery, surprise and delight.
Directions
Place your paper and the thing you found to draw with beside you.
Close your eyes.
Focus on your breath. Breathing is super cool. Let’s give it our full attention as a way of celebrating its awesomeness.
Try and feel the rhythm of your breath as it moves throughout your body. Feel the coolness in the tip of your nose where the breath enters your body, then follow it down to your lungs and in your belly.
Now stop thinking about your breath and try to just breathe.
After a few minutes open your eyes and take a look at the palm of your non-dominant hand, the one you don’t usually write with. Look at it as if you’re seeing it for the first time. Notice the way light hits certain parts of your palm and gets lost in the crevices of others. Take a trip down the lines, following it to the next crossroads. Notice the colors, shapes and lines. Really see and appreciate your hand for a couple of minutes. The more you look the more you might see. Your hand is beautiful and tells stories. You might even find yourself falling in love with your hand.
Now take your palm and gently place it on a piece of paper. Take your pen/pencil/marker or crayon and with your other hand trace an outline of your palm.
Now take your palm away and see if you can turn that outline into a picture of a chicken.
Once you are done you may also give your chicken a name.
Enjoy your brand new Mindful Chicken.
If you prefer to listen these directions as an guided audio meditation, you can do that here:
You might be asking yourself what the point of all of this is. Now that you have birthed a magnificent chicken into being, what exactly are you supposed to do with it? The answer is that I have absolutely no idea. For me it’s about the pleasure of watching my chicken emerge from the page, it always feels like magic. What happens afterwards is besides the point. You can frame your chicken and hang it up on the wall, you can turn it into a paper hat and wear it, or you can simply recycle it. What matters is that you birthed it and that you get to hang out with it for a bit.
I’d like you to meet my Mindful Chicken. Her name is Eunice. She’s a very soft talker who snorts when she laughs. She’s very glad to meet you.
P.S. If you end up making your own mindful chicken please feel free to send me a pic at gsiskind@gmail.com. I’d love to meet them.
P.P.S This exercise, and almost everything I understand about how to organize creativity and play, is inspired by the work of Lynda Barry. If you haven’t experienced the awesomeness that is Lynda Barry, I’d encourage you to gobble up as much as you can. This writing exercise or this book would be a decent place to start.