Today, we’re diving into the world of mindfulness. This topic hits close to home for me, especially after a recent experience with my son. Last week, he took a tumble at school and ended up with a broken arm. Cue the trips to the emergency room and the fracture clinic. As I sat there, surrounded by folks with various fractures and injuries, it got me thinking. Are we attuned to our bodies and mindful of our actions? We’re often caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. We are so preoccupied with being busy that we forget to be mindful Let’s explore this together.
I couldn’t help but notice that a significant number of those present were adults over 40, both men and women. There were fewer children, including my 13-year-old son. Some children had casts on wrists while others sported casts on their knees and ankles! This made me think! Over the past few weeks, students have told me stories about accidents they have had. They tripped over shoes, missed steps, or got hurt while running because they were in a rush.
And when we are not mindful, accidents can happen! So, it got me thinking, do we know what mindfulness is? We hear it a lot. It’s a buzzword nowadays. What does it mean to be mindful and why is it so important?
Understanding Mindfulness
According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness is: “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally” […] “in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.” Jon Kabat-Zinn: Defining Mindfulness – Mindful
Thich Nhat Hanh was a Buddhist monk and mindfulness teacher (now deceased). He describes mindfulness as an energy that transforms how we live.
How many of us go through our day with a big list in our head? We’re not mindful of what we’re doing at any given time. For example, when you drink water, are you drinking water? Or are you thinking about all the things on your to-do list?”
I would say the majority majority of us rush through life. We rush from task to task, never fully present, lost in worries of the future or regrets of the past. Mindfulness grounds us in the present. It offers stability in our busy lives. It helps us become more grounded become more centred. It has many many benefits for the mind and the body and can be very life changing. Mindfulness is a practise that we have to embrace.. When we worry about the future or get stuck in the past that that we can start to embrace the concept of mindfulness. So it’s very, very nurturing. It’s very, very valuable and it helps us transform how we live. The key thing for us today is how can we transform the way we think and the way we feel. Mindfulness is a great place to start.
The world of mindfulness describes the mind as a chattering monkey. In yoga, This phrase, “yogas chitta vritti nirodha,” is stated in Yoga Sutra 1.2, defined by Patanjali (Read more here: https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-sutra-1-2-translation-and-commentary/) as ceasing the chattering of the mind. Our minds are like bustling marketplaces, filled thoughts, feelings, and conversations with ourselves. We often ponder tomorrow’s tasks. We also replay conversations with colleagues or family. Our minds are often cluttered with worries, stresses, and anticipations. We rarely pause to just watch our minds. We don’t notice the range of emotions that flicker like stars in the night sky. Take a moment now to imagine stepping back. You would witness the flurry of thoughts in you. Are there whispers of anxiety, echoes of joy, or shadows of self-doubt? Amidst the chaos, there’s a glimmer of peace. Or, you can discover a thread of compassion. Mindfulness offers us a gentle invitation. It asks us to reconnect with our essence. This means sifting through noise to find moments of calm and clarity. In this analogy, our minds mirror the sky, ever-changing in its moods and hues. Just as the weather shifts from stormy to serene, our inner landscapes fluctuate with the rhythm of life’s tides.
Benefits of Mindfulness
What are the benefits of mindfulness? First of all we can recognise the signs of stress. If we stop and pause for a moment and practise mindfulness, over time you start to recognise the signs of stress. It enables you to identify stressors in your life and transform how you respond to them. Not only do we recognise the signs of stress but we learn techniques then how to respond. We often react with anger and emotion. This causes us to say things that we may later regret. Being mindful teaches us to push the pause button and take a break so that we respond rather than react! Mindful responses offer a calmer, measured reaction. This is especially true in heated situations, such as arguments with loved ones. This thoughtful response helps to calm tensions. It also helps to handle challenges better, instead of getting distracted. So, as we’re mindful in life, we are in the present. So, we’re not allowing the mind to wander off. It must not go to the future and to the what ifs. It must not catastrophize and think the worst case scenario.
Practising mindfulness yields many benefits. First, it helps us see stress signs. This lets us respond, not react . By fostering thoughtful responses, we navigate life’s challenges with grace and resilience. Mindfulness boosts energy levels, improves sleep, and enhances well-being.
You won’t get bogged down. Worry and anxiety often make us feel bad. Not having them will boost your energy and improve your sleep. Because you’re not getting caught up in the future or the past. That’ll boost your self-esteem and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week. We’re trying to boost our self-esteem and confidence. It reduces your stress, anxiety, and depression. It also improves your mind so you can focus on each task, rather than skipping to the next. You’ll focus on everything you’re doing at any given time. Finally, your memory, concentration, and mental clarity will improve. These are all the physical benefits of starting a mindfulness practice. They also come from being more mindful as you navigate your day.
The more you become mindful of your body and sleep, the more you sleep. You’re not cranky or grumpy. So, you might wake up feeling better. This will strengthen your relationship with yourself. It will also strengthen your relationships with the others you live or share your life with. It enhances your emotional intelligence and compassion. This, in turn, leads to good health and well being. There are many benefits. It takes slowing down and being in the here and now.
Incorporating Mindfulness into Daily Life
When we talk about nurturing mindfulness, we can separate formal from informal practices. Formal practices, like the body scan and sitting meditation, involve dedicating specific time. This time is for honing our mindfulness skills. But, informal practice involves adding mindful awareness to our daily routines. Both formal and informal practices play pivotal roles in enhancing our mindfulness journey. A less formal practice can be as simple as being present when doing things like drinking water.
As you go about your daily business, take one thing at a time. Take one thing today and practice it will your full concentration. A good example is to focus on brushing your teeth tonight. When you get ready for bed you focus only on the feeling of the toothbrush on your gums and teeth. Acknowledge the smell and texture of the toothpaste. Enjoy the clean feeling when you finish. These physical sensations put you in the present. You’re not standing and thinking of tomorrow. Your sense of taste and smell, and the sound of an electric toothbrush. Try this one thing. If you do, tell me how it goes. Let me know next week. Or, send me a message if it works.
Other examples of informal mindfulness are going for a walk. Many of us do that to clear our heads. I definitely do. A good walk helps clear my mind. But, often when we walk, we’re thinking about what we have to do, how a meeting went, or an argument. We go over it again and again. So, we’re not giving our minds a rest. Another practice I would invite you to do is to go for a walk. The next time you go for a walk, do this thing. I do it on the retreats I lead with Ocean Sanctuary on Aranmore Island. We do mindful walks on the beach. People often come back and say they’ve never done them like that before. When they go for a walk they’ll march up and down the beach and they feel great. But in their mind, they’re going through their list of what they need to do. They’re also thinking about what they have to finish and what will happen next.
Mindful Walking Exercise
Your next task is to go for a mindful walk. What does that mean? It means being aware of the ground under your feet. It’s the sensation of the left foot, then the right foot, then the left foot, then the right foot striking the ground. Take time to notice the earth under your feet. Is it solid ground, muddy grass, or sand? What’s the ground’s texture? Start to become aware of sounds while you walk. If you’re walking in nature, you might hear birds singing or dogs barking. You might hear all sorts of things that you don’t notice when you are not being mindful. Notice the tastes and smells around you. In the countryside, embrace the earthy scents, while at the beach, inhale the salty sea air. Engage in your surroundings, not just with your head down and headphones in. Observe the water, waves, mountains, sky, and birds. Listen to the sounds around you. If distractions arise, bring your focus back. Begin your walk with a deep breath in and out, grounding yourself. Then, proceed mindfully, whether walking or brushing your teeth. These simple practices help to ease worry and stress in our busy lives.
We’re all so busy. But when I see all those people at the fracture clinic, I can’t help but wonder: How did they break their arms and legs? Were they rushing about? The people who told me they hurt themselves recently were rushing about. They were going from one thing to the other without stopping. Then, they tripped over something or missed the last few steps. They ended up being very sore. Mindfulness improves your mind and body. It gives you more clarity. As you declutter the mind, think of it as a bit of a spring clean. You’re decluttering your mind. You’re removing all these heavy thoughts. They bog you down and weigh your body down. It will give you some motivation to do things that you enjoy.
Embracing Difficult Emotions Practice
I invite you now to do a little practice of embracing difficult emotions. The practice is not easy. It’s quite challenging, and you might find it disheartening. But, I say stick with it. Keep practicing it. Like everything else, the more you do it, the easier it gets. It will help free up the burden of carrying your anxieties and worries. It will give you space to think and help you become more confidence. It will give you the ability to be more creative. Our decisions can be cloudy and it can be hard to make good decisions because we’re so busy. We don’t have space to think. Mindfulness practice can help free up your mind. It will let you devote your attention to other things that are more beneficial.
So, sit up nice and tall wherever you are. Get comfortable now and take a few deep breaths. We’re breathing ends through the nose. And out through the mouth. I’m doing that a few more times to connect the mind and the body because we want to anchor and ground ourselves. So let’s do that two more times in hell. Exhale through the mouth. Last one end through the nose. And I threw the mouth. And then sit for a moment and allow whatever arises to be there. Notice and recognise what is there. Recognise whatever has decided to join you now as you do this practise. And whatever feelings are there. They can be positive or negative. You now decide to accept this feeling. You can say to yourself I accept that anger or fear or loneliness is present in me at this moment. Embrace the emotion with your breath. Your conscious breath in and breath out. We can’t change our thoughts. But we can change our relationship to them. Bring yourselves back into the breath in and the breath out and that’s all you have to do right now. Nowhere else to go. Nothing else to do. Except breathe in. and breathe out and sitting with all that you have all that has come with you into this session. And you can decide to sit here for as long as you like or if you feel ready. We’re going to bring the hands to the heart centre by our heads here.
Incorporating mindfulness into our daily lives doesn’t need to be complicated. It can be as simple as taking a few moments each day to pause, breathe, and check in with ourselves. We can cultivate mindfulness in many ways. These include formal meditation, yoga, or tai chi. They also include everyday activities like mindful eating or walking.
If you haven’t downloaded your free self care kit yet, to go to my website https://www.healingflowyoga.ie. You can download a 7 day workbook to help you begin building your self esteem and confidence! You will also get a little meditation too. Let me know how your mindful walk or mindful thing goes. Check out my other blogs on https://www.healingflowyoga.ie/blog-2
Whatever you decide, let me know how it goes.
