Practicing Mindfulness

If you are anything like me, you may struggle with living fully in the present moment.  Sometimes my mind races forward to worries I have regarding my life, and fears I have about the current state of our world.  At other times, I find my state of mind is replaying memories of something I said or did in the past, that I wish I could have done differently. Everyday we have the choice to live in the present moment, to agonize about the future, or to beat ourselves up about the past.The truth is that we can “should” all over ourselves about the past, overwhelm ourselves about what might be in the future, or we can choose to say yes to life and be fully invested in the present moment. But when we become obsessed by compulsive  thoughts and feelings that are attached to past memories and our mind’s worse case future scenarios, then our ability to live completely in the present moment becomes increasingly difficult.

Oscar Wilde once said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist, that is all.” Mindfulness is the ability to truly live and tune into to life. To live mindfully means we choose to experience the here and now with all of our senses. We can mindfully drink our tea, mindfully play with our pet, mindfully witness the beauty of the fall colors, or mindfully listen to a friend who is facing a difficult season. 

So many of us struggle with figuring out how to live mindfully when our anxiety, guilt, shame, and worries dominate our thoughts. Like many of you, I sometimes get stuck in these very real feelings, but this can lead me to miss a lot of precious moments. I do think it is important to process why we are feeling fear or shame, and to get in touch with the root of these emotions, but I also think it is helpful to learn how to calm our minds down through breathing, guided meditation, prayer, yoga, and through using mindfulness to pay attention to life that is buzzing around us. Maybe like me, you have learned that if you are upset, it can help to take a walk, play with your pet, or to call a friend. These actions help us because they provide opportunities to connect with life and to tune into the present moment.

• How often do we enjoy our job? Or are we too busy trying to get through the day, and so we fail to notice the beautiful moments in our work day?
• Are we so overwhelmed by the thoughts of Monday morning that we spoil our weekend, and miss precious moments with a friend, spouse, or other loved ones?
• Are we so worried about whether someone is mad at us, that these obsessive thoughts (that may have no merit to them), prevent us from engaging the day in front of us?
• Are the opinions that we perceive others have about us, or the opinions we have about ourselves, stopping us from experiencing life?

Amit Ray said, “If you want to escape the anxiety of life, live in the present moment, live in the breath.” So why not take a deep breath in right now and make a promise to yourself to find the beauty in today. I find when I live in a mindful way, instead of an anxious way, I experience joy, peace, answers, creativity, and life.

Let’s do more than just exist and choose to tune into life,

Christy