- Mindfulness is cultivated by
“being in the moment and concentrating on one thing at a time”.
Avoid Multitasking. Rather than doing all the time, begin shifting yourself into being mode. Engage your senses and focus on what you see, hear, feel or on whatever is happening for you. Try to completely embrace and accept this moment.
Focus on what you are doing, along with accepting the moment, concentration and voluntary simplicity are other practices that will be valuable allies on your path to mindfulness. Concentration is the cornerstone of mindfulness. When you’re fully concentrated, your energy is directed toward deeply experiencing one thing or one moment. Everything else falls away, including other thoughts, feelings and the outer world. People often deeply appreciate this feeling, as it allows them to experience inner stillness and undisturbed peace.
- Mindfulness is cultivated by
“Voluntary simplicity – that is, engaging in one activity, or with one thought, at a time. If you’re playing with your daughter, for instance, and you get a text, you could deliberately ignore your phone, instead bringing your full attention to enjoying the game with your child.
It’s important not to confuse non-doing with doing nothing. Consciously stopping, with the intention of cultivating stillness and appreciation, is non-doing – but it is not doing nothing!”
- Mindfulness is cultivated by Patience
Patience and generosity can help you become more mindful. “Choosing to be patient would indeed be far better for your own sanity”.
Patience and mindfulness are deeply connected. Patience means that you accept things as they are, that you realize events always unfold in their own good time. That may be well and good, but how do you manage your impatience and the anger that accompanies it? To build patience, compassion and wisdom, start by redirecting and working with anger and impatience.”
Remarkably, thereare lot of daily situations that make us impatient and anger. Instead of putting your energy toward feelings of anger, use it to promote understanding and patience. Don’t allow the situation take your mind too! When you are getting impatient, remember to found wisdom and calm down.
“Mindfulness is cultivated and practiced by questioning yourself during automatic routines… sitting, standing, walking or lying down”.
Being mindful isn’t something you accomplish and then (check!) you’re set for life. It requires constant self-inquiry.
But asking yourself questions isn’t only about problem-solving. It’s about staying connected with life itself, with yourself and with your presence. It means carrying questions with you, contemplating them, being constantly aware of them.
Even though mulling questions over in your mind will result in many answer-like thoughts, the main goal is to listen to the thoughts that your questions evoke. Whether your question is “What is upsetting me right now?” will help to imagine yourself as an audience, watching and listening to your own thoughts and feelings.
Thankfully, no special settings or occasions are needed to practice mindfulness. You can do it any time. That said, many people find that early morning is ideal. The peacefulness and solitude that is often more easily available at this time gives you the space to contemplate and focus on being. An added bonus is that you’ll start your day in a peaceful, mindful manner and therefore be more likely to carry this peace with you through the day.
But of course, carving out time before you start your day isn’t essential; you can even practice mindfulness in the middle of an everyday activity like climbing the stairs. Usually, we do this in a hurry, without a single thought about it. But if you focus on all the intricate movements your body makes as you go up the stairs, you’ll increase your awareness of the present and, when you get to the top, you’ll be calmer and more connected to the next activity you engage in. The key is to slow down, taking one step at the time, with the goal of increasing presence and awareness. There is no place you need to be and no moment that you need to sacrifice for the sake of being fully present in this one.”
Information taken from: Wherever you go, There you are – By Jon Kabat Zinn
