Doorways and thresholds are all around us.

We step through doorways and cross over thresholds daily in both the literal and metaphorical sense. Metaphorically speaking, we cross a threshold during times of change and transition. Stepping from one state of being into another, more integrated version of our self.

Psychotherapist Richard Frankel tells us that if individuals did not encounter major thresholds or transitional experiences throughout their lives, they would forever be experiencing the world through the eyes of their childhood selves with no integration of experience or realized potential. More simply put, we need change and transition to grow and evolve.

Sometimes transition and change can simply be felt as discomfort and restlessness before it is actually seen. Sometimes it can be dark and painful. Think about where in your life you are in transition. Work? Relationships? Your inner world and emotional landscape?

My mindful challenges for this week are:

>> Take time to notice, in detail, every literal doorway you pass through today. Notice the shape, the colors, the details of the materials, the hinges and the handles.

>> Then, make a mental note of the two spaces you are passing between when you enter or leave through a doorway.

>> At the end of the week, after a week of being mindful of the literal doorways, reflect on the above question further. Journal about where you feel that feeling of restlessness brought on by change. Don’t think about how to change it or make it go away, simply sit with the discomfort and notice the subtleties of the feeling in your body and the thoughts it brings up.

These practices help us ground into our present surroundings and become more aware of the subtle details we frequently overlook in our usual hurried state. It also grounds us in our recognition of threshold crossings, helping to bring into awareness the more emotional or psychological transitions we are in the midst of.

Be well, stay present, and embrace the changes.