Alison Kleinert

Can mindfulness be practiced like a skill?

I think it can. When you catch yourself in the same pattern over and over, you start catching it earlier. And earlier is where the choice is.

But you have to know what you’re watching for. That’s what The Five Observations are — five specific things about you, so that “pay attention” actually means something.

During the pandemic I finally had a chance to sit still. I wanted to work out which of everything I’d learned had actually helped me.

It came down to five specific things from my Human Design — and I’d meet one of them almost every day. Each time I recognized one, it pulled me back into the present. In that space I had a choice about what to do next.

The more time I spent there, the more natural it felt.

Here’s how it works. You get a workbook with one thing to notice each week. Then you go about your life and pay attention to what comes up.

Then you come together each week with the same people and talk about it. Saying something out loud is what makes it real — it gets the thought out instead of leaving it turning over in your head.

And you realize we’re all going through similar things. It stops being something to feel bad about and becomes something that makes you human.

Five observations. Five weeks. Your life becomes the practice.

Curious? Come say hello.