Mindful in Majorca

The last time I was in Majorca was in 1966. I was 10 years old and was there with my parents and three siblings. If someone had told me then that I would one day retire to Spain with my husband, I would have said, “No way!” The idea would have been so implausible for this American.

Now, at 65 years old, here I am living in Spain and am back on the island of Majorca. This time, I am here with hubby Rick and an English couple. The wife, Janis, is a Buddhist and she is helping me be more mindful. She has introduced me to a free app from Plum Village. This is a Buddhist monastery near Bordeux, France run by Thich Nat Hanh.

The app has both short and long meditations, chants, podcasts, dharma talks, stories for children, songs, poems, short films, a bell of mindfulness and much more. You can spend weeks exploring all the different sections of the app. Here is the link: https://plumvillage.app/

Since we arrived in Majorca, Janis and I have done the 4 minute morning meditation together to welcome each day.  Here are some of the words to this lovely meditation:

As the day dawns

In stillness we sit

Our hearts are at peace

A smile is on our lips

This is a new day

We vow to go through it in mindfulness

So the sun of insight can rise

And shine in every direction

Here is the link to that meditation. https://link.plumvillage.app/vxre. To listen to it, I believe you must download the Plum Village app first.

We have also done the coffee or tea meditation several times as well as the deep relaxation meditations. Some of these are 45 minutes long so you should feel really relaxed after doing one of these. To aid in our comfort while doing these deep relaxation meditations, we brought along our yoga mats.

Availing myself of this resource has helped me slow down and be in the moment rather than being distracted by looking at upsetting news on my phone screen or thinking about future plans or current concerns.

Many people seem to live distracted lives and aren’t paying attention to what is around them. For instance, Janis mentioned how a man sitting by us on the ferry from Denia to Majorca was watching a movie on his tablet for the entire 5 hour journey while at the same time periodically looking at his phone. Was he enjoying the gentle rocking motion of the boat? Why didn’t this young man ever get up, go outside to look at the Mediterranean Sea he was riding on? He was simply too engrossed in his electronic devices and might as well have been at home, she observed.

This was a point well taken and I resolved to not be like this young man but rather enjoy the here-and-now. This meant using my phone to take photos of what I was seeing rather than mindlessly scanning the news all day!

Here are some photos of what we saw in Palma, Majorca when we went sightseeing.

We also drove east across the island from Palma to Cuevas Drach (Drach Caves) in Puerto Cristo. We saw some amazing limestone formations in the cave and even got to listen to a classical music quartet perform four lovely pieces on a boat in a small underground lake there. It was enchanting. No photos allowed of the mini-concert, unfortunately. But here are two photos of the stalagmites and stalactites for your viewing pleasure.

In conclusion, I very much enjoyed being mindful in Majorca. I bet you would too. Life is always better when you are mindful and living in the moment, breathing in and out in the most precious here-and-now.