Mindfulness Sucks (Not Really)

Okay, so mindfulness itself doesn’t suck, but being good it at does. We all avoid doing things that are difficult; unfortunately we blame mindfulness for being hard, rather than blaming ourselves for the (lack of) effort.

By now we all have some idea of what mindfulness is – bringing more awareness to the present moment. No one said it would be easy, but not everything in life is. Might those things that are more rewarding require greater effort anyway?

It’s one thing to bring awareness to the present moment, but to fully feel it and to not let it rock you one way or another is a whole different story. Anyone can stop for a second and to listen to the sounds around,  or observe a single obeject in their environment, but not everyone actually experiences that sound or object mindfully.

Okay, so what does it mean to experience something minfully? To start, take a moment to stop and listen to or look at something not because you think you’re “supposed” to, but because you really want to.

When you take a second to stop, can you really listen to the sound the bird, the ambulance, the screaming child makes? Does it bother or please you? What sensations do you feel in your body when you pay attention to that one sound? What reactions do you have to it? And what reactions do you have to those reactions?

Simply try to stop and ask yourself those questions. You don’t even have to answer them, but observe how you react to the whole process. Practicing minfulness is the ability to be fully present throughout that moment, however long or short.

You don’t have to sit and meditate for one hour a day, although that might benefit you too, you just have to increase the amount of times you stop to observe, allowing each one to become an integrated part of your everyday life.

-S

Oh, and here’s some free yoga 🙂