Mindful – adj. Bearing in mind; taking thought or care; attentive; observant; having memory (archaic) – The Chambers Dictionary 12th Edition
Walking in to the front entrance of my building after a leisurely walk at the beach and the delightful man who does all the maintenance on our property who by the way, has a perpetual smile said to me, “Take your time, no rush.” What? I was stumped, stopped in my tracks as I thought to myself, “delightful man, any slower and I’m travelling at the pace of a snail on valium.”
What was he detecting with me? Perhaps it was that for the week before I had been working unusually long hours for me and that I’d had a few nights of restless sleep and meals had not been enjoyed with the usual mindful eating. Or maybe he is Yoda in disguise (he does look a bit like Yoda)?
Whatever Yoda intuited with me, his words were a blessing, a reminder that I did need to get back to more of my own mindful practices in addition to my daily meditation and Qigong. My mantra for the rest of that day became “no rush, no rush.”
Whilst some might think mindfulness is about living your life like a snail on valium or sitting around navel gazing, the practice of mindfulness brings with it immeasurable benefits for your psychological, physiological, spiritual, creative and even financial well-being including:
- Discovering more of your true self
- Managing emotions and improved emotional well-being
- Enhanced well-being of your body, brain and mind to bring about a more consistent state of holistic wellness.
- Healthier digestion, weight management and weight reduction
- Generating more kindness and compassion
- Improved sleep
- Reduced stress and more peace and calm
- Improved focus and being more fully engaged with yourself and others.
- Enhanced awareness of your surroundings and enriched joy simply for being in the world.
- Reduction in random spending on unnecessary items. It’s not so likely you’ll buy an over-sized and overly stripy T shirt when you are being mindful when shopping
- Improved communication skills; verbal, listening, non-verbal and written
- Enriched relationships
The term mindfulness has been popularized in the west by everyone from chefs to corporate trainers, which is great other than there appears to be little credit been given where credit is due, for the origins of not only the word, however more importantly the practice of mindfulness.
Mindfulness is a wisdom that dates back to very early civilizations. It has been taught and practiced by Yogis, devotees of Eastern religions and spiritual practices such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
In today’s world mindfulness has come under the microscope of a plethora of academics and researchers from the field of epigenetics, cognitive neuroscience and psychology to name a few, with leading universities around the world funding research into a practice that has been giving benefits long before the invention of the research tools now used to study the practice.
From my 20 plus years as a student and practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, I have come to learn and understand that mindfulness is more about re-connecting with our natural state of mind, a peaceful and calm state that allows us to “bring the mind home” so that we wake up and remember our “true selves.”
Whilst you can practice mindfulness with your everyday activities, meditation is practice of mindfulness that also enhances your ability to be mindful in everyday life.
Through regular meditation practice, a state of mindfulness can naturally occur and allow the separate or divided aspects of ourselves to become more settled and integrated, negative or unresourceful thoughts and emotions to be transformed, and our essential nature and kind heart to be revealed and expressed in our everyday life.
How can I become more mindful in everyday life? Follow these practical mindful enhancing tips
- Set an intention and have a desire to become more mindful.
- Think about your motivation; is it to evolve more as a person, feel healthier, improve your memory, sleep better, communicate more effectively and/or positively influence and be of more benefit to others?
- Begin now and think about everyday life situations where you could make even small changes to become more mindful i.e. this classic Zen maxim “When I eat I eat, when I sleep I sleep.”
- Don’t judge yourself and beat yourself up when you feel you are not being mindful; you are not the Dalai Lama and I suspect that you are not yet meditating like a Zen monk. Be kind.
- We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen with all your being.
- Switch off all devices at least two hours before going to bed. And do not sleep with any mobile devices, computers or televisions in the bedroom.
- Commit to eating at least one meal a day in silence. This does not imply that you can talk incessantly through the other meals. My partner and I often eat our evening meal together in silence. You might be surprised at how much better the food tastes, how much less you eat and the improvement to your digestive system and general well-being.
- Mind your own mindfulness and do not judge others. While you are judging the behaviour of others, the only thing you are minding is “ not your own business.
- Start the day with meditation and you can naturally bring about a calmer, more mindful state of being and of awareness that you can bring to your everyday activities.
- Practice meditation everyday to enhance mindfulness.
How do you start the day? Start how you intend to continue and finish your day
Meditation and Mindfulness to set the mood for the day
How many people do you know who start their day on social media, reading a newspaper or listening to the doom and gloom of the news? How do you think any of these activities affect your brain and set your mood for the day? Oooh, I feel the Switch off from all Media for 96 hours Challenge coming on.
How do you think your day could be different if you started it with some meditation to allow yourself a more mindful state of being, or if meditation is not your thing (yet) how about sitting down and eating your breakfast in silence? My entire office is a food free zone.
I generally get up around 6.30am and start the day with Qigong followed by meditation including compassion practices for you and the world at large and then a dynamic power mediation. I do not switch on the computer or look at emails etc on my smart phone until these practices are done.
By around 3pm on a Saturday I switch off from all social media until Monday morning. Unless I have a Skype coaching session my computer also goes off until Monday morning.
We were not designed for the fast-paced world we are now living in and our body, brain and minds are struggling to keep up at the expense of our well-being, so for the sake of your well-being please follow the practical mindful enhancing tips to be kinder and more compassionate with yourself.
If you would like more information about the meditation courses that I present for individuals, groups or business or you would like me to speak at your event on mindfulness please connect with me via bliss@blissfulway.com and I will be happy to be of service to you.
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