A simple INTRODUCTION to mindful living
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness encompasses two key ingredients: awareness and acceptance. Awareness is the knowledge and ability to focus attention on one’s inner processes and experiences, such as the experience of the present moment. Acceptance is the ability to observe and accept—rather than judge or avoid—those streams of thought. .
Being Aware
To live mindfully is to live in the moment and reawaken oneself to the present, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. To be mindful is to observe and label thoughts, feelings, sensations in the body in an objective manner. Mindfulness can therefore be a tool to avoid self-criticism and judgment while identifying and managing difficult emotions.
History
Mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist teachings. Buddhism includes a journey toward enlightenment, and the concept of “sati,”—which encompasses attention, awareness, and being present—is considered the first step toward enlightenment. The term was roughly translated from the ancient language Pali into the term “mindfulness.
The emergence of mindfulness in Western culture can be attributed to Jon Kabat-Zinn. Kabat-Zinn studied mindfulness under several Buddhist teachers, such as Philip Kapleau and Thich Nhat Hanh.
As a professor at the University of Massachusetts medical school in the late 1970s, Kabat-Zinn developed a program called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to treat chronic pain He discovered that patients would often try to avoid pain—but that that avoidance would lead to deeper distress.
Practicing mindfulness was a more successful approach
Mindfulness and Mediation
Mindfulness is one form of meditation. Meditation utilises various practices to quiet the mind or achieve a higher level of consciousness, one of which is mindfulness. Mindfulness can be cultivated within or outside of formal mediation and woven into any activity, such as taking a walk or being engaged in conversation
Mindfulness in Daily life
Mindfulness can help you to live more fully and aware to be in the moment throughout the day. As you wake up, you can focus on your breathing and the way your body gradually becomes more energised. You can incorporate a brief meditation into your work day, perhaps on your lunch break, and focus and appreciate the experience of eating during meals This all adds to the richness of the living experience.
What Mindfulness isn't
Mindfulness isn't about making everything better and never suffering pain or anxiety ever again. It is about seeing life in all its colours and attributes both good and bad. Mindfulness gives us the opportunity to see what reality is and choose how to respond to it rather than being slaves to habitual habits and reactions it opens up the opportunity for skillful choice in how we respond to life and allows us to hold our experiences in a bigger container where there is room for all of them good and bad without fear or judgement.