Today I had a day-long seminar on meditation and mindfulness. It's a lot to write about here, but here's a little bit... We can practice mindfulness just a few minutes a day. It is about being present with everything in the moment. For example, when you are eating, just eat. We can realize that little things (like eating, walking, or doing the dishes) are not little, but are life. If we focus too much on what's happening next, we will miss the present.
Mindfulness also relates to our natural system for seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. While necessary at times, it can get out of control. The means we use to avoid pain can become detrimental, and we can also become obsessed with pleasure. Mindfulness teaches that we can let go of this struggle, and just let our thoughts be. Basically, mindfulness is not about needing to be a certain way, but rather it is a curiosity of exploration, a way of approaching every moment and interaction in life.
I also put some pictures from today on Flickr.
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I would be very interested in hearing more about this. I have a terrible tendency to always think about what's next. It stresses me out! ;-) In fact, it's been on my mind lately and then I decided to check your blog since I hadn't for a while and I hit this post. Mindfulness, huh? I'm gonna start working on this more! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteRe: stressed about thinking about what's next - I have the same problem--grad school maybe? Either way it's nice to slow down for a few minutes here and there and just focus on living, on experiencing what is happening in the moment.
ReplyDeleteApparently the idea has been around for ages. I don't have any books on it yet, but Thich Nhat Hanh and Jon Kabat-Zinn are some of the more well known authors who have written on it. The latter was a medical doctor who quit his practice to teach patients with chronic pain about meditation and mindfulness.