Mindfulness
MINDFULNESS – A CATCH PHRASE OR ……..
Mindfulness, the ability to be focused on the present moment and not being ‘distracted’ by events from your past or possible events from your future.
This week a colleague at work sent this article to me, which I thought was worth sharing. Whether you believe or not meditation is here to stay. In fact it has always been there. It is the Western world that has now discovered this PHENOMENEN. In this age of fast paced life, time poor people, impersonal interaction and KPI’s it is time, to reevaluate. I will leave you to make your mind up.
David Beard
While some people are able ‘be present’ others find their mind is constantly ruminating about the past and worrying about the future. If that’s you, then teaching yourself to be more mindful is a valuable thing to learn. However, like exercise, it does take some practice and getting into the habit of regular mindfulness meditation.
Meditation is a systematic method of focusing your attention on something that is happening right now.
Some types of meditation primarily involve directed concentration–repeating a phrase or focusing on the sensation of breathing. In the process, allowing the parade of thoughts that inevitably arise to come and go. Concentration meditation techniques, as well as other activities such as tai chi or yoga, can induce the well-known relaxation response, which is very valuable in reducing the body’s response to stress.
Mindfulness meditation builds upon concentration practices. In mindfulness meditation, once you establish concentration, you observe the flow of inner thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations without judging them as good or bad. You also notice external sensations such as sounds, sights, and touch that make up your moment-to-moment experience.
The challenge is not to grab hold of a particular idea, emotion, or sensation, or to get caught in thinking about the past or the future. Instead, you watch what comes and goes in your mind, and discover which mental habits produce a feeling of well-being or discomfort. At times, this process may not seem relaxing at all, but over time it provides a key to greater happiness and self-awareness as you become comfortable with a wider range of your experiences.
Above all, mindfulness practice involves accepting whatever arises in your awareness at each moment. It also involves being kind and forgiving toward yourself. If your mind wanders into planning, daydream, or criticism, notice where it has gone and gently redirect it to sensations in the present. By practicing accepting your experience during meditation, it becomes easier to accept whatever comes your way during the rest of your day.
In addition to formal meditation, you can also increase your mindfulness informally by focusing your attention on your moment-to-moment sensations during everyday activities. This is done by single-tasking–doing one thing at a time and giving it your full attention. For the next week, try doing this each time you clean your teeth.
Happy cleaning.
David
I think it is worth a try. Can I retrain my brain, find calmness? IM NOT SURE!
“S + E = O”
Funny isn’t life. What is so familiar can be so alien, what should be automatic is incredibly hard labour. Things to consider, the relevance of the situation, the part of the experience, the outcome of them. S + E = O
The old dog, prostrate on the floor, the even older cat never from away. I see a bag of goodies and a box of odds and ends on the floor under the table. Relics from 2 years ago. A lifetime ago, of other experiences. A time when things would have been more acceptable, but no I have lived a frugal existence for 2 years, lived in other peoples houses, lived with their memories; the family photos looking down at me, but not my own family. Where once a riot of colour, now a dry, dead garden, overgrown, the balance no longer there. The delicate now hidden by the over exuberant weeds.
Situation – a past life, a life no longer mine
Experience – an opportunity to revisit this life.
Outcome – Disappointment – anticipation is superior to realisation.
Conclusion – you can never totally return to the past, you may visit for a moment, but what is gone is no longer there. No matter how hard you may wish it were different.
As I walk a delicate tightrope of awareness, trying to build bridges, it only took on external influence, 5 minutes to pull the carpet out from the shaky foundations. There is not a lot that can be done. I can not stop what is said, I can only hope that the people who listen have the intelligence to dismiss what is ultimately not fact but willful fiction.
A long time coming
Impressions
Life is a catalogue of impressions. Every day we meet people, we complete tasks, climb mountains. Last year in my time of rebirth I departed to the other side of the world. How easy it is to travel. How tiny is our world. To travel in less than two days and be enveloped by another way of life. How lucky are we. Sitting waiting at Launceston Airport. Carting luggage, overcoats, wearing too many clothes, but I am ready for the cold snap that will greet me in Edinburgh. Fortunately the air conditioning is working well as I am over dressed as well. But I still have to get past an 8 hour wait in Melbourne . Luckily the luggage is checked through so only have to check myself in. No waiting with big luggage is a bonus…………….All is good I have landed in Edinburgh. Arrived 10 hours later than expected. Delays all the way, starting in Melbourne and the ripple effect of missed connections. Got stuck in Doha, an alcohol free zone so no drink to help while away the time. Having made a couple of friends on the way we suitably grumbled, grumped, huffed and puffed about delays, bad service and shitty cramped planes. We departed knowing that we would never meet again, even though we promised to connect on social media. I have discovered Scottish people are so friendly, upfront and honest, they call a spade a f..kn.. spade. This fellow on the last plane jumped seats to sit with me, plied me with alcohol and Walkers biscuits. Lovely fellow, very chatty. We spoke of life and friends and connections. His mate lived in a place that ultimately I was on my way to reboot my life. Coincidence. The universe at play again.
I arrived in Edinburgh to be greeted by my beautiful, smiling daughter. I sank in to her embrace and I realised how much I have missed her. My first born child. Now a grown woman with a life and family of her own. But oh how I love this girl. This wise, beautiful, accomplished young woman who carries within her some of me. Jet lag is not something that has particularly worried me before. But for some reason I have been hit by a tidal wave. Maybe it is the tidal wash of the last year. But I have hit a wall. My girl is out at her Christmas dinner and I am sitting here watching a weird Tarantino movie. I was meant to train to Glasgow to meet up with her, but slept till 7.30, it would be 9.30 before I got there and I am still suffering the rigours of being in transit for 30 hours. Edinburgh is beautiful and every thing is in walking distance. I can’t wait to explore it with my camera; Edinburgh castle, walking to the top of Arthur’s Seat, Holyrood house (the queen is not in residence so I can do a tour) the church is amazing. I walked in to the whisky tasting today and everything is so relaxed, the fellow behind the barrel was tasting the liquor as he was working. Apparently a good sign if you sample your own wares. Dogs are welcome in bars and restaurants, if they are well behaved and on a leash. Had a hot toddy at the ice skating and there were flakes of snow falling as we stood outside clutching the hot cups. Carollers were singing
Christmas carols and lone pipers are dotted around the city (though some are better than others). The accents are lovely and it is a “lazy wind” that blows (cuts through you doesn’t go around you) but coats, hats, scarves and gloves are real fashion statements. My Christmas in Winter.
The Importance of education and women’s empowerment
Worth sharing from the From The New York Times:
By Nicholas Kristoff
What ISIS Could Teach the West
There’s a lesson we can learn from the Islamic State and others we are fighting: the importance of education and women’s empowerment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/opinion/nicholas-kristof-what-isis-could-teach-the-west.html
Night
There is a time when the past is so painful, it is never spoken. This is the foundation for so much grief, sadness, misery, loneliness, regret. Surrounded by friends, but so alone. Desiring solitude to be the real you.
Sometimes when you take a leap of faith, the bungee cord breaks, the parachute doesn’t open and you just free fall on a ride that is at first exciting, then you realise there is no safety net and land in a place that is untenable. The life you knew is now no longer. The security is gone. The desires are different to reality. You know you can climb back up and be someone else, but the cost. Self doubt just kills you. You realise that it has to get worse before it gets better. How much more can the spirit take? I am this person.
Eating yoghurt with a fork
Forrest Gump’s immortal line: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get”. But you know I think life is like eating yoghurt with a fork. Last week I did just that, having arrived at the lunch room with my trusty tub of yoghurt and a banana, unaware that the only utensil available to eat with was THE fork. But I managed, with some degree of difficulty, to consume the yoghurt, albeit not with out some degree of mess. Damn inconvenient really. But sometimes in life you have to compromise, you have no choice, to get the outcomes you desire. It may take a little longer but you get there in the end.
Selfies
I love taking photos, but rarely do you find me in a photo. I have friends who obsessively document their journeys through life by taking selfies. I prefer to look down the lens. For me it is more than the tourist shot. I see beauty where others don’t. A gnarly tree with interesting skeletal branches, you see a dead tree. Intricate carvings on a pot, beautifully framed, you see a pot sitting alone. Light and shadow on moving water, you see a pond. I share a few here and there and have documented some via social media. But mostly the photos are for me. A way to look back on the beautiful things I have seen through my eyes. The beautiful people, the ordinary man on the street. These images will always bring a smile or sigh on a quiet or reflective day. I see how taking photos can be a distraction, taking from actual experiencing the subject matter. But for me to sit and capture the beauty of a sunset or sunrise of a place I may not visit again is satisfying, I know I can look back and be reminded of how I felt, what I saw, through my eyes. This is my travel souvenir, much more apposite.
Passion
1. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
– Harriet Tubman
2. “There is no passion to be found playing small–in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
– Nelson Mandela
3. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”
– Anthony J. D’Angelo
4. “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”
– Oprah Winfrey
5. “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”
– Benjamin Franklin
6. “We must act out passion before we can feel it.”
– Jean-Paul Sartre
7. “It is obvious that we can no more explain a passion to a person who has never experienced it than we can explain light to the blind.”
– T. S. Eliot
8. “Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.”
– Jon Bon Jovi
9. “You can’t fake passion.”
– Barbara Corcoran
10. “You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.”
― Steve Jobs
11. “Yes, in all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion.”
– Deepak Chopra
12. “If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.”
– Wanda Skyes
13. “If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion.”
– Mia Hamm
14. It is the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion.
– Rebecca West
My personal favorite quote on passion is from a man who clearly had way more talent than he claims in the quote:
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein
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