M I N D F U L N E S S: 051419

What are you doing right now?

What are you thinking?

What are you feeling?

What is going on around you?

What sounds do you hear?

What do you see around you?

What sensations are you feeling?

At This Present Moment

HERE & NOW

About Mindfulness

I talk a lot about it because

It has dramatically changed my life for the better

And I'd really like you to have this gift in your life

Important NOTE! : )

Something you should know

Mindfulness is different from Meditation in that

You don't have to Meditate to be Mindful

But you do have to be Mindful to Meditate.

     

As I continue to study and practice Mindfulness

My life is truly improving

I now can catch myself thinking of things

That would normally send me

Into a tailspin of depression or an explosion of rage

Now, I can see them

Before they have a chance to take me with them

Now - I am learning to watch my thought and feelings

Like stepping out of myself

To be the watcher of my thinking and feeling

Having that little distance 

Affords me the time to choose how I will respond

Being more aware of my thoughts and feelings

Has helped me avoid living a life of mindless reactions.

It used to be that

When others would push my buttons

I went into an instant programmed reaction

Reacting without thinking

Like a rudderless boat recklessly tossed about 

by people and events around me.

Now, as I continue to grow in being Mindful,

It's like having a rudder to steady and steer my life

I can see obstacles that lay before me
(I can see clearly now the rain is gone : )

I have time to decide how I will respond to life

And choose a wiser course of action

I now see things about myself that I never saw before

I can now savor the moments of my life

On a deeper and richer level

And the really cool thing is...

It's really not all that difficult

I mean really

If I can benefit from it - anyone can

It just requires you to make the effort to be aware

Of what's going on in each present moment

Whatever you are doing - pay attention to that

Be With That

Be Here, Now, in This Present Moment

And it will benefit your life

As it has mine

Now here's some folks who do a good job explaining Mindfulness:

~*~

"While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes, which means that while washing the dishes, one should be completely aware of the fact that one is washing the dishes.  At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing?  But that’s precisely the point.  The fact that I am standing there and washing these bowls is a wondrous reality.  I’m being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions.  There’s no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

While washing dishes, you might be thinking about the tea you’re going to drink afterwards, and so try to get them out of the way as quickly as possible in order to sit and drink tea.  But that means that you are incapable of living during the time you are washing the dishes.  When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing in your life.  Just as when you’re drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.

In fact we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future -and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”

~Thich Nhat Hanh

(The Miracle of Mindfulness)

~*~

"Mindfulness simply means awareness. It's a direct, intuitive knowing of what you are doing while you are doing it. It's knowing what's going on inside your mind and body, and what's going on in the outside world as well.

Most of the time our attention is not where we intended it to be. Our attention is hijacked by our thoughts and emotions, by our concerns, by our worries for the future, and our regrets and memories of the past. Mindful awareness is about learning to pay attention, in the present moment, and without judgement. It's like training a muscle - training attention to be where you want it to be. This reduces our tendency to work on autopilot, allowing us to us choose how we respond and react." 

 ~Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn