Mindfulness

We have recently been on a mindfulness workshop. It was a very interesting day indeed and most enjoyable, although I must admit we didn't learn anything we didn't already know. The point for us was that we needed reminding to be mindful!

Mindful? Mindful of what? Well, everything really.  Mindful of the very moment you are living.  This moment, right now. Yes.  Right now. You are reading this blog, but what else is happening? What are you sitting on? How does it feel? What can you hear? What do you feel? Is it light or dark? 

Shut your eyes for a moment. What's going on around you? Clocks ticking?  Traffic noise outside?  Birds singing? TV noise in the background? 

There is always so much happening that we don't often hear or appreciate it. We never actually connect with ourselves as we are allowing our busy heads to constantly chatter on even when we think we are at rest. It’s suggested that we have in excess of 70,000 thoughts per day. Knowing that there are 86,400 seconds in a day we have plenty of time for all those thoughts. About one every 1.2 seconds. Phew!  That's a lot of thinking. Don't you agree? You realise you have just had several more thoughts just thinking about answering that last question? Thoughts are never ending...

And do you remember most of them?  What were you thinking about last Saturday week, about lunchtime? Or last night when you were watching TV, or an hour ago? You won't remember I'm sure. I certainly don't. 

So, what does all this mean?  Does it really matter that we don't remember our thoughts?  Who cares anyway? They are just thoughts? 

Well, our thoughts are living things. (That’s a whole other blog just there!). They are very precious but in order to recharge, de-stress and be compassionate to ourselves we need to learn to switch them off and become more mindful. Of the NOW. This moment. NOW. 

That is much easier said than done for most of us. We lead busy lives, hence the thousands of thoughts we plough through every second, every minute, every hour, every day. 

Learning to quieten our minds is more often than not a challenging process but a very valuable one. Meditating on our breath is a good place to start...

You will need to find a quiet corner. Put on a little ambient music and maybe a candle if you want to set the mood. Shut your eyes and concentrate on taking in a deep breath, through your nose, to the count of four.  Let it out to the count of four but through your mouth Repeat this 5 times.  Do not rush it. Concentrate on your breathing and only your breathing. It’s very important to concentrate only on your breathing. That way you stay mindful of the moment.  Hopefully you can manage to clear your head from the day’s thoughts. 

We spend so much time thinking about what has gone on before, i.e. the past and what is to come, i.e. the future that the present often doesn't get a look in. Being mindful of the present moment prevents the past and the future from influencing how we react to situations that are occurring right now. Being mindful of the present keeps us centred and focussed.  

Take time out every day, if only 5 minutes, to meditate on your breath. Once you have mastered that and are quite happy that you are achieving mindfulness move on to guided meditations.

Taking time out to be compassionate to ourselves, to love and cherish ourselves, to honour and nurture ourselves will encourage us to be more mindful.  Life is easier when you're mindful. I promise. Give it a try...