MINDFULNESS
Today I am going to write about the concept of mindfulness. Mindfulness is something I recently learned of and began incorporating it into my daily meditation practice. I have found the practice to be beneficial and want to share it with you. Mindfulness will be particularly useful for those of you who deal with daily anxiety, worry, and depression. Even if you don’t experience anything more than the average bouts of anxiety, you too may find the practice useful. I am going to go about this entry by first detailing why I began searching for ways to improve my life, then defining what mindfulness is, and lastly how I have incorporated it into my life.
For most of my adult life I have not been present. Physically I am present, but in my thoughts I have been somewhere else. While consuming entertainment I have been lost thinking about past events that I should have handled differently or worrying about a task that needs to be completed for work instead of giving my attention to a conversation. My anxiety would pull me in all kinds of directions, but never in the direction of enjoying and experiencing life. This went on for so long that I forgot how to enjoy life and, as it appears to me, reduced the enjoyment of those around me. My mindset of worry, doubt, and guilt led me to despise myself. I did not enjoy life and I don’t think life enjoyed me. Luckily for me, I was able to make a decision that I was tired of living like this and wanted to learn how to start enjoying life again. My desire to be present for life’s experiences started me on my journey.
The dictionary definition of mindfulness is, “1: the quality or state of being mindful, & 2: the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.” Special attention needs to be given to being nonjudgmental to our thoughts, emotions, or experiences. We are hard wired to notice the negative and become tangled up in it. This is no surprise. Evolution created us this way. What better way for people to survive the dangers of the world than to notice all the life threatening obstacles and then to dwell on these things to find solutions to survive. The usefulness of mindfulness is that its goal is not to eliminate our thoughts or emotions, but rather to give us a way to rewire the brain to become nonjudgmental about them. This is how I would describe mindfulness in my own words: mindfulness is a learned practice that teaches practitioners how to separate their emotional wellbeing from thoughts, emotions, and experiences, allowing them to be present and enjoy life again.
My first step into practicing mindfulness started with awareness. You do not know what you do not know. A few years ago I became aware that I was not happy and was not a fan of myself. This awareness started a desire to bring change to my life. At the time, I didn’t know that this was my first step into mindfulness. However, I didn’t know how to change my state of mind. Eventually, I would be turned on to mindfulness and provided a tool to help me on my journey. This tool is an app called, “Healthy Minds.” You can find it, or any of the many mindfulness apps, in your phone’s app store. Each morning I use the app and it guides me through a focused mindfulness meditation. Lessons are also available in the app which I have found to be beneficial. Throughout the day I practice what I have learned which enables new habits to be formed. Overtime I have noticed that I have begun to be present more often. With my developing awareness of my thoughts and emotions, I am able to recognize when I begin to dwell on the past, or future, and am able to bring myself back to the present. The point of mindfulness is not to get rid of your thoughts or emotions, but to become nonjudgmental and aware.
This was a quick dive into mindfulness which barely touched the surface. If you are like me and have found yourself in your head more frequently than with those around you, then mindfulness might just be what you have been missing in your life. Maybe you don’t struggle with a bad relationship with emotions. In that case you can share this with others you might know who have high levels of anxiety, worry, or guilt. Either way, I wish all of you a happy, healthy, and present life!
