Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about waking up, connecting with ourselves and others, and appreciating the fullness of each moment of life. Kabat-Zinn calls it, “The art of conscious living.” It is a way to enhance psychological and emotional resilience, and increase happiness. Marlatt & Kristeller call it “Bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis.” and Kabat-Zinn "Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally." I call it life by design.
Practicing mindfulness helps you:
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to be fully present in the moment
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to experience unpleasant thoughts and feelings in a safe and calm and empowering environment
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to become aware of what you’re avoiding and what you feel you should be doing
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to become more connected to yourself, to others and to the world around you
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to become more self-aware
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to become less upset and gain control of your reaction to unpleasant experiences
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to learn the distinction between you and your thoughts and feelings
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to have more direct contact with the world, rather than living internally
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to learn that everything changes
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to have more balance, become less volatile both emotionally and in our thoughts
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to become calm and peaceful about our thoughts and feelings
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to develop acceptance and compassion for self and others
There is need as we grow and evolve; to change. Often change is instigated by our circumstances, the people around us, our culture and our society. Mindfulness helps us make more meaningful and conscious choices. We need to change paradigms, for all manner of things.What choices we make in life might not be 100% perfect, but we can choose to do the best we can with what is within our control. Often that change starts with changes in our homes, in our careers, in the way we parent, the way we live and the way we behave. We consciously explore options that we might not have before. We will all have differing goals, but being mindful helps us make better choices not only for ourselves but for everyone.
Gratitude is a very important part of the mindfulness process. Being grateful for the opportunities and the people who love and support you, the food on the table, education and knowledge. We are grateful for Holidays regardless of religious beliefs, as it has become a time where families bond and grow closer for the most part in our culture. We can then practice tolerance for other religions and cultures for their beliefs and holy days.
In mindfulness meditation we facilitate your journey to yourself and all the wonder that is entailed in each unique and valuable human being. We can’t possibly see a sunset and not marvel at its beauty, yet we take it for granted, much as we often take for granted family and friends. In mindfulness we are no less in awe because the sun is a big lump of molten metal and gas burning billions of kilometers away, appreciating that it helps sustain our lives in such a glorious way.
Mindfulness brings you to “Be the Change”, we can’t control everything, but we can control our thoughts, our actions and reactions and our emotions. We can be mindful and choose to not act. Mindfulness is first and foremost about love (unconditional positive regard), love of self, love of others, love of this big ball of mud hurtling through space and time and its wondrous resources such as animals and plants, this enormous Universe, the everything and all that is within and without. It is through mindfulness that we see ourselves and the connectivity of all things, and can embrace the concept that we are one…
The Dali Lama suggested that we all meditate, that we teach the children of the world to meditate and with so many of us aware, awake and in the now, truly alive and living in the moment, how could we possibly contemplate actions such as war? How can people who are conscious of the beauty and wonder of life choose to crush it? If we can lead our children to mindfulness, the next generation will be free in a way we could never be, free of fear, free of hate, free to live in peace and co-exist with love and tolerance and respect for the planet and the Universe itself.
The first act of love is to be given to yourself. You change the world by changing yourself.