Mindfulness Practice of Stone Stacking
This photo was taken during a morning mindfulness session with person’s living with a dementia, and with soothing music of nature sounds in the background, this activity never fails to bring calmness and peace. Balancing stones has been a very effective and enjoyable activity I have practiced since childhood, and throughout my career as an intervention to teach the importance of emotional balance in our lives.
Stacking stones promotes focus, patience, resilience and perseverance as the stones tumble and are carefully repositioned to create a balance structured. In this mindfulness exercise we discussed the possibility of the bottom rock representing our strengths, or perhaps it is symbolic of our “strong spiritual base,” as it provides stability for the fragile stacked stones. Participants are then asked to take a gentle swipe with a hand and watch as the balanced stones tumble onto the table. The bottom rock of course holds steady, and we conclude that rock represents our faith, and even when we may feel unbalanced in our lives, our spiritual base will always help us stay grounded.
For information on our Memory Ministry or Memory Café, please contact Vicky at vpitner@firstumc.org.