Am I really mindful?

[Ich]

This may seem like a strange question, but how do we know we are being mindful? I sometimes think I'm being mindful when in actuality I'm getting carried away even by breath itself. The sounds of my breathing or the movements of my belly turn into very subtle thoughts of language or images. I think I'm being mindful when in fact I'm not. I realize this whenever I really become mindful again. It is as if I can only be mindful for a few seconds before I get lost again.

My question is, how long do you guys feel (or know if you can know this) you're being mindful for? For me it is a few seconds of real mindfulness (probably about three or four seconds) followed by maybe a minute of "fake mindfulness" and then mindlessness where I get distracted by various thoughts forgetting the present moment completely.

It is true that after a while the latter doesn't occur that often anymore.

[Peter]

For me it is a few seconds of real mindfulness (probably about three or four seconds) followed by maybe a minute of "fake mindfulness" and then mindlessness where I get distracted by various thoughts forgetting the present moment completely.

It is true that after a while the latter doesn't occur that often anymore.

Do you mean while doing other things, or while practicing formally?
Peter

[Ich]

While practicing formally.

[JonW]

Try not to get wrapped up in concepts. That's just more thinking.
Watch the breath. Gently notice when your mind has wandered. Return to the breath.
It's so simple that we often miss it.
Cheers,
Jon

[Peter]

how do we know we are being mindful?

If you are aware of whatever is 'happening' at that very moment.

I sometimes think I'm being mindful

If you are aware, you know/feel that you are aware. Thinking really has nothing to do with it. If you don't know/feel it at that very moment, you weren't aware. That, of course, is the whole point of being aware.

Would you really like to know how long others can be aware for? What would be the purpose? Ask yourself that.

Peter

[JonW]

Your natural state is mindful awareness.
As much as anything, mindfulness practice is undoing all the conditioning and negative habits that get in the way of simply being.
Jon

[Peter]

That's true! I like the way Stephan Bodian describes it:
"I actually prefer to use the phrase “present moment awareness,” because it takes away any connotation of laboriousness or effort. Being aware is the easiest thing in the world—in fact, I would suggest that it’s our natural state, prior to all the conditioning we’ve accumulated over a lifetime. When you were born and opened your eyes to the world for the first time, simple, unadulterated awareness peered out, curious and alert. When you wake up each morning and open your eyes, the very same unconditioned, unfiltered awareness greets the day, before concerns, worries, plans, and schedules rush in to cloud it over. These “mind- ful” activities require tremendous effort and exact a stressful toll; by contrast, present moment awareness is effortless."
Peter

[Happyogababe]

That's true! I like the way Stephan Bodian describes it:
"I actually prefer to use the phrase “present moment awareness,” because it takes away any connotation of laboriousness or effort. Being aware is the easiest thing in the world—in fact, I would suggest that it’s our natural state, prior to all the conditioning we’ve accumulated over a lifetime. When you were born and opened your eyes to the world for the first time, simple, unadulterated awareness peered out, curious and alert. When you wake up each morning and open your eyes, the very same unconditioned, unfiltered awareness greets the day, before concerns, worries, plans, and schedules rush in to cloud it over. These “mind- ful” activities require tremendous effort and exact a stressful toll; by contrast, present moment awareness is effortless."
Peter

That really, really, makes sense.