Mindfulness.....

What is Mindfulness?
1 - It is defined as the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
2 – A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.
Practicing Mindfulness will help us to interrupt the natural processes of the mind. It will help us to notice our thoughts so we then can choose how to respond to events. Events are neither good nor bad – they are neutral – how we perceive them as what determines our experiences. Mindfulness will give us insight into patterns of our mind that create suffering and retrain our brains not to automatically respond.
The goal isn’t to stop negative thoughts, rather it is to change your response to them.
Mindfulness, meditation, positive thinking, religious practices, and psychotherapy are all techniques that is practiced regularly can beneficially impact your life.
Here is one mindfulness exercise….try it for just a few minutes and see how you feel afterwards.
Breath awareness
Sit comfortably – eyes closed – notice your breathing – if all is well in your life, it should flow naturally.
Observe where the breath is coming from, is it in the belly or do you feel it at the tip of nose?
Feel the breath through the whole cycle – inhalation and exhalation.
Thoughts will enter – allow them to come and go like clouds. If your mind starts going crazy with thoughts – gently bring back your attention to your breath. Don’t be discouraged as you were mindful to catch the drifiting.
There is just this moment in life – bringing attention back to moment to moment experiences
The challenges you may find is: restless minds, boring, sleepiness, wanting to take action, unwanted thoughts coming into your mind, and/or physical discomfort. Let these come and go – refocusing on your breath.
I’ve been practicing consistently for a month now. Am I enlightened? Lol Wiser? Probably not. Calmer? Possibly. More centered and appreciate the moments? Most definitely.
I believe the mind should be trained just like the body – if not more so…..what are you doing to strengthen your mind?