Advantages to Mindfulness

Here are some advantages to mindfulness:

You feel calm. When you're present, your activities become easier. Your mind isn't busy thinking of past and future experiences, so the moment you're in full and fearless.

You have clarity. When you're mindful and present, your focus is clear. Conversations flow naturally - even the emotionally intense ones - but they aren't negatively charged because... you're dealing only with the moment at hand. No past baggage, no future projections.

You feel positive. There's little fear in the present moment. When fear (and everything it brings) disappears, positive emotions rise to the surface freely.

You become stronger. Literally. When you move and are mindful, you notice muscles that were taking on more jobs than they could handle, and other muscles that were never engaged. When you're in the present moment, feeling, noticing, training muscles to fire, and others to stop trying to take over.

Mindfulness: good stuff.

Watch what you say...

And maybe be aware of how you respond to what words people say to you.

New research on the brain indicates that the way we respond to certain words actually rewires our brain.  So if you're bathed in negative interactions (or perceive them that way) especially as a child...well, we see the results of that daily.  But if you bathe yourself in positive words and "compassionate communication" the results are a happier human being.

Your Words Matter

You can learn how to communicate compassionately through the Center for Nonviolent Communication

Center for Nonviolent Communication

You can learn to speak violently negative by attending any local youth soccer game and listening to the parents on the sidelines.

Now, my dear, wonderful, incredibly intelligent, compassionate, loving, balanced, strong, grounded readers, go out there and create a great day for yourselves!

Here

every cell bounces against the other nervously
electric on my skin
and there is no room

faster faster they push looking for space
energy rises even higher
i feel it, taste it
it pushes the space beyond my skin

there has to be more room more space

And then

...a small, almost thought

Air gently whispers in

Cells around my skin soften, yield


Quiet, return, pause

Tenderly uncreating

Settling back in


Here

Knee jerk post

I just saw a commercial on a new design for knee replacement.

On television.

Knee replacement.

How popular are knee replacements when a company is advertising on television?  And what are we doing to our knees that we now have commercials - prime time commercials - on knee replacement surgery?!

Mindfulness in a moment

Incorporating mindfulness into your day can be simple if you keep it simple.  Tell yourself that you have time.  And allow yourself to have it, and then, be in it.  Here's how to add it in:

• When you're driving and you notice someone waiting to cross the street, pause and let them go by.
• In the grocery line, allow someone to check out before you.
• Take your time putting the groceries away when you get home.
• When your child, or someone else you love, asks you to come and look at something, just drop what you're doing and go.  Show them you have time.  They'll learn to have time too.
• Driving on a side street, let the person coming toward you go by the parked car before you do.  Just wait for them to pass.  
• If someone waits for you to pass a parked car, give them a wave of appreciation.
• Sit down to eat and pause before the first bite. 
• Pick up a neighbor's trash or recycle bin that's blown across the street on a blustery day.
• Let someone else take the parking spot. 
• You have a few extra dishes in the sink that won't fit into the dishwasher.  Wash them by hand. (Or, if you can't, read this.)

It's amazing how much space I feel when my mind isn't busy distracting me with ridiculous thoughts and I take the time to let things unfold on their own.  Time feels like it's really slowed down.  My cells feel like they aren't bouncing around like the inside of a Pick 4 lottery game.  They're all nice and gently moving around, playing nice.

Listen, if you've come up with your own list of how to slow things down, let me know about them.  

Boredom: highly underrated

 When I was an early teen a basic middle school hallway conversation would probably translate to something like this:

"Oh MY GAWD!  I'm so totally bored!"

And my friend's answer (translated into today's tongue): "Same!"

And then I would say (translated, again): "Today is - LEGIT - THE most BORING day."

And my friend would reply: "I know, right?"

Oh...to have those boring days back with the history I have now!  I so long for boredom.  Of course, my definition is different from Websters.  I just mean a lull, a lack of things to do, places to take people to, places I have to be, a quiet time.  A time to just be.

I have to CREATE lulls now.  I have to snatch them in between going one place to another.  I have to make them just before falling asleep.  Or just on waking.

And in twenty years, when my children have families of their own, when the family dog is buried deep in the yard, when a vegetable garden is too much hassle for just two people...will I long for the busier days?  

I don't know.  

More importantly, right now I have a few moments to play cards with my daughter.  So to heck with wishing for the past and wondering about the future.  I'm going to play.