Mindfulness is THE most important component of a lasting, satisfying process of being well in mind, body and spirit.
Mindfulness practice is about conscious, expanded awareness of one’s present experience without judgment or analysis.
Sounds simple right?
It’s more challenging than it seems but this practice is well worth cultivating as it has profound effects on helping people heal and release the past without having to relive the past.
Mindfulness helps us to work with present pain without struggle and if practiced regularly it helps us to experience greater peace in every day life.
Having judgmental thoughts is something all humans experience. We are constantly judging ourselves, others, things, places, experiences by our very nature without realizing it.
The practice of mindfulness begins with noticing our judgments without judging ourselves for having them… and… if we notice we are judging ourselves for judging…well, we notice that…without judgment.
Discernment should be distinguished from judgment.
Judgement is when we place a value of good or bad on an activity, person, or experience. Discernment is when we assesses a situation or a person objectively and make a conscious decision to participate, to accept or to not participate or not accept.
The benefits of practicing mindfulness can most readily be seen when we bring the same level of attention and awareness into our daily lives and relationships. Thich Nhat Hanh says, “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.”
I recommend that we begin with awareness of our breath here and now and make friends with the breath as a vital tool to bring us back to the practice of mindfulness, to integrate mind, emotion and body and to anchor us in the present moment instead of allowing ourselves to be splintered between past, present and future.
If we can first learn how to notice our breath we can then learn to breathe on purpose. Deeply, fully with awareness.
When we become mindful that we are rushing and splintering, we can gently stop, take a conscious breath and come back to this present moment fully. From there we have created a bubble of awareness that allows us to thoughtfully respond, to use discernment and consciously choose our action.
Without a mindfulness practice, without conscious awareness, without integration of mind’s thoughts, heart’s emotions and body’s sensations we become splintered. When we are splintered, we develop physical pains, disease, sickness that sometimes we can address or avoid altogether if we had been decidedly conscious and integrated.
Without a mindfulness practice we don’t hear the whispers of our inner knowing that will lead us in directions that promote harmony in life and relationships.
Unchecked, what starts as a twinge of fear can develop into a full blow anxiety or depressive disorder.
If we practice mindfulness regularly, we begin to experience an unwinding of tension in our body, heart and mind we didn’t even realize was there. If you are old enough to remember the telephones that hung on the kitchen wall with those long curly cords, you will remember having to hang the phone upside down to allow that cord to unwind and marveling at how it spun and spun until it finally settled into an unwound state and could be returned to the cradle on the wall. Practicing mindfulness takes us through that process. We unwind and allow for a bubble of acute awareness without judgment to help us slow down, see more clearly, feel more clearly and know more clearly.
Mindfulness practice has been shown through empirical research studies to alleviate all kinds of physical and mental health ailments, to reduced symptoms of stress and improve overall health.
It’s important to realize that mindfulness is not a pill to be popped with results in 20 minutes. It is a practice to be embraced day in and day out. It is very helpful to join and attend a mindfulness meditation group or class with an instructor on a regular basis in the beginning of starting a practice.
The one book I recommend to my clients and students is Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn as a course of practice and understanding this way of life. I utilize this practice and philosophy in all of my coaching, teaching, and therapy services. This is the bedrock of all my work.
If you would like to discuss how I can help you develop your personal mindfulness practice please set up your free Connection Session here.
