So many of us are becoming busier, more stressed, more addicted, and more unwell. We feel disconnected and far away from ourselves. And we’re looking for ways to release the pressure valve, to find a sense of center- a sense of calm.

Mindfulness is a tool, a practice, and a way of life that can get us there. Mindfulness is available to every single person. All we have to do is make a choice.

Mindfulness helps us get in touch with our thoughts, our emotions, and our moods. It improves our mental health, physical health, and the relationship that we have with ourselves and with every single person in our lives.

“Mindfulness is the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”

Practicing mindfulness doesn’t prevent us from feeling anger, resentment, judgment, sadness, or fear. It doesn’t mean that we will never feel self-doubt, stress, worry, insecurity, or frustration. Not at all

But mindfulness does help us know what we are feeling and why. And that puts us in a position, a very empowering position, to make a choice about what we want to do with the information we are observing.

Mindfulness doesn’t mean that we will magically start living a perfectly harmonious life or stop making mistakes. We will. But mindfulness does help us course correct, learn, and grow from every single mistake that we make. It helps us forgive ourselves, accept ourselves, and love ourselves. It helps us get clear about how we want to live and it makes getting there a lot easier.

So, how do you get started?

Come to your senses

Getting present can be tough at first, because humans have this tendency to sort of travel through life on autopilot, hanging out in the past, hanging out in the future, not being aware at all of what we’re thinking and feeling.

Putting your five senses to work, and then paying attention on purpose to what’s happening with those five senses can be super grounding and a great way to experience what presence feels like.

Watch your mental movie

If your thoughts were in front of you on a big drive-in movie screen, what would you see? Are they thoughts from the past? Are they thoughts from the present? Are they thoughts from the future that do not yet exist?

Connect the dots

Now that you’ve come to your senses and looked at your thoughts on the big screen, focus your attention on how you feel and why.

What emotions can you pick up on? Are you happy? Do you feel sad? Do you feel judgment, fear, worry? Do you feel stressed?

Look for the connection points between your thoughts and feelings because they are always there.

Mindfulness is all about practice, practice, and practice.

You could practice for 60 seconds. You could practice for three minutes. You could sit on your deck and practice for much longer if you wanted to. It’s totally up to you.

But practice is the key because consistency and repetition build new neural pathways in your brain.

And when you start practicing mindfulness, when you start practicing observing in this present moment, non-judgmentally, you’re learning something new.

Mindfulness is a way of life. You can actively choose to practice. There is no barrier to entry except a choice. The good news is you can start and restart every single second with every new breath that you take. Take a breath, reset, and start again.

That’s the beauty of mindfulness.

It is a practice.

It is a tool.

Source: https://colebakerbagwell.com/mindfulness-101-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-how-to-get-started/

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