This is what I learned from observing pigeons,
Contrary to my belief, pigeons spend relatively less time looking for food. Once they are back at their shelter, the spend their time only on three things
1. Spending time just looking at their surroundings ( They just don’t look at a single point, but rather, tilt their head and look at different objects with full mindfulness )
NOTE: The reason why I said, they do that in mindfulness is because, however relaxed they may seem, if you try to catch them, they simply vanish. It’s not that they are afraid of some forthcoming danger, all the time, it’s just that they are fully aware of their presence in the limited environment that they are in
2. Grooming themselves, so that they look attractive and clean
3. Make sweet love to their partner, which in addition to mating process ( which they DO NOT do often )will also involve beak to beak kisses, pecks on the neck, grooming their partner and so on
When you think about it, it’s interesting because every single bird or animal has something new to teach us. All the activities that we indulge without being mindful just brings us more misery in the long term. We fret over mundane things, worry about our future or finances, regret about our past and our health. I believe, somewhere during our childhood, we have lost the art of sitting ( or walking or standing ) in total mindfulness, simply being happy.
May be, the animals and birds do it at a instinct or subconscious level, but what matters is that, they are able to do it. And we have a choice to observe and copy them.
