Mindfulness is certainly NOT taking nearly two months to complete a blog post. Or maybe it is? I'm not sure I've been successful in practicing mindfulness during this time but at least I'm getting closer to doing things that make me feel human and whole... but I digress...
The concept of mindfulness has its origins in Buddhist practice. Right Mindfulness is seventh among The Noble Eightfold Path, i.e. a path toward achieving Nirvana. The Nirvana I'm referring to is not the beloved 90s band, but a cessation of desire and attachment which are thought to be the roots of suffering. (World of the Buddha; Styrk, 1968). In this sense, Mindfulness has been translated to mean the constant awareness of the truth of the doctrine (the Eightfold Path).
The modern proliferation of interest in mindfulness stems in part from the work of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn who founded the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts in 1979. The idea behind the psychological interpretation of mindfulness is that one engages in a present-centered awareness such that thoughts and feelings that arise are acknowledged and accepted as they are in a non-judgmental manner. This powerful concept is intended to help with issues ranging from anxiety and depression to addiction.
In some ways it is hard to describe mindfulness since it is in part a way of being. A few years ago I took a shortened summer version of the MBSR class and we began with something called a bodyscan meditation where you focus on individual parts of your body in succession until you really bring a full awareness of your whole physical presence to the forefront. This was a transformative experience in my life because it really got me to realize how much time I spend on "auto-pilot". When I am mindful I find myself fully present, through good and bad experiences, and in turn it makes me feel more alive.
The problem is, it is incredibly difficult to be mindful when you have SO much to do. I know the benefits are enormousness but every time I tell myself to put aside a few minutes each day to meditate, or just sit quietly and focus on the present - I never even stop long enough to try!
Instead of true mindfulness I've been doing the next most peaceful thing I can think of which is in Taoist tradition known as Wu Wei (acting without acting). In the U.S. we generally call it "going with the flow". Sometimes I get so anxious about all the goals I can't realistically achieve that I get stuck in a circle of negative thinking and procrastination. Often Wu Wei helps get me out of the cycle. Part of this is self-forgiveness or allowance. It doesn't mean not to have high expectations of yourself but it is not very productive if you're so crushed under the weight of those expectations that you can't move forward.So I haven't made it to the three miles every few days I hoped to be running by February, and I have been working so much I've barely had time to finish my day-to-day tasks at work, never mind brushing up on foreign languages and statistics. However, I've been hiking, nearly every weekend since we moved to Mass. and in those moments I try hard to not ruminate about the past, or worry about the future. In those deliciously quiet fleeting moments I get once a week I am doing my best to simply enjoy the present.
How do you make time to enjoy the simple things in life despite the constant pull of busyness and things that make us run on autopilot? Any suggestions for how to be more mindful in little ways, every day?
How do you make time to enjoy the simple things in life despite the constant pull of busyness and things that make us run on autopilot? Any suggestions for how to be more mindful in little ways, every day?
