29 Mindful Ways to Spend February 29th (Leap Day!)

Leap Day

Because 2020 is a leap year, we get an extra day on Saturday, February 29th. It’s a bonus day–kind of like the extra hour we get when we turn back the clocks in the fall, only times 24.

And in honor of this very special occasion, I want to suggest that Leap Day is a fantastic time to experiment with spending time without feeling the need to fill it up.

Because that’s what we usually do–if we find a chunk of time, we pack stuff into it because we’ve got a real association between time and value. You know, the whole “time is money” idea.

But time isn’t really money. Time is…it’s own thing. Time doesn’t have value because of what you can accomplish or produce during it. It’s not a tool. It’s just a fact. A truth. A part of nature. Like a mountain.

Time has value simply because it exists. Just as you have value simply because you exist, and not because of how much you accomplish or produce.

So I’d like to suggest that we all honor Leap Day, and the bonus time it provides, by making a conscious choice to NOT try to fill it, and just…be. It’s an opportunity to practice mindfulness, which is simply paying attention to whatever’s happening in this moment, and not off in your head planning or worrying about things to come, or rehashing or worrying about things that have already happened.

Let this found time be a day where you can just catch up to yourself, and be a portal to simpler, slower time.

For everyone who’s wondering “But what will I do?” Or, “How?” here are 29 ways to spend this February 29th mindfully:

  1. Take a nap
  2. Write a letter
  3. Write in your journal
  4. When you get hungry, open the cabinets and the fridge and see what you can make out of what you already have on hand
  5. Putter around in your yard; investigate what’s happening during this time of year
  6. Think about what you haven’t had time for lately—and do that
  7. Take a bath; extra credit for Epsom salts and essential oils
  8. Declare a no-spending day
  9. Be lazy; stare at the wall
  10. Play with a kid
  11. Play with a pet
  12. Take a nap with your kid
  13. Cuddle up with your pet
  14. Read a book or a magazine
  15. Meditate
  16. Hang out in bed
  17. Have sex
  18. Walk around your neighborhood and chat with your neighbors
  19. Do a crossword puzzle
  20. Do a jigsaw puzzle
  21. Do an arts and crafts project
  22. Watch the clouds
  23. Pop in on a friend
  24. Open the windows, lie in bed, and listen to the sounds happening outside
  25. Lie on the ground and feel your body sink in to the floor, like a pat of butter on top of a stack of warm pancakes
  26. Take a walk with no particular destination—at every corner, just see which direction looks most enticing and go that way
  27. Really listen to some of your favorite music
  28. Watch the birds outside your window
  29. Bonus points for taking a tech-free day

Wishing you a great Leap Day!

katepodcast

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