Shy about discussing mindfulness ;-)

[Metaphysical Me]

Hi,
I'm really glad to have found a mindfulness forum. I only googled for one today, but think that I've been unconsciously looking for one for a while now, haha.

I dunno how to introduce myself. I've always been interested in mindfulness-related topics. I learnt formal meditation about 15 years ago and have been refining my practice and knowledge on and off since then.

I've become quite focused since about a year or two now, as I've been finding more useful resources available now than there were 15 years ago (when I was initially quite disappointed in the poor quality of the resources available and sort of just tried learning on my own.)

I've found it a bit hard to get my best friend and my boyfriend or others close to me to get their heads around the issue of mindfulness or why it matters to me, so on a day-to-day level I don't get to discuss the topic with anyone, much.

As a result, I don't know a) what mindfulness issues I want to discuss, b) how I want to discuss them, c) who I want to discuss them with... I've become so used to mindfulness being a solitary pursuit, that it's a bit challenging to suddenly try and converse about it!

I look forward to the opportunity of discussing mindfulness, tho!

XXX

Janey

[FeeHutch]

Welcome to the community. I have already read your posts around the forum so it looks like you are getting well into the swing of things already

[Metaphysical Me]

Haha, yeah

But I'm still kind of feeling shy about it - or should I say I have reservations?

I think mindfulness stuff is often really hard to "word" properly, making it tricky territory for discussions.

And while on some levels I'm really interested to hear other practitioners' perspectives on it, mindfulness and one's experience of it is also such a personal, private, inner thing - do you know what I mean? On that level I really don't want to *share* my practice and I don't want it to be tainted by things others may write about mindfulness, that don't sit right.

I'm also worried about running into "devotees" of mindfulness - people who take the practice way, waaaay too seriously. And I'm baulking at the thought of being lectured by them! Hahaha

So I still have my reservations. I'm not sure an inner practice and group discussions mix that well. Or, at least, there are definitely down sides along with up sides to it, for me.

I will see... and time will tell...

I guess I'm glad to have found the *option* of a mindfulness forum tho - I guess now I can pick and choose what to read here / what to write here, whereas before, I didn't personally know anyone that I could discuss mindfulness issues with.

But all in all, my impression is that you've set up quite a good forum on it - serious, but not toooo serious - a pretty good mix!

XXX Janey

[Gareth]

I don't think that I take mindfulness too seriously. Mindfulness is not even a thing. It's just a concept, a practice, a way of living your life. We all have different minds, and mindfulness is different for every single person out there.

On the other hand it's the most serious thing to ever happen to me. Serious enough to start a website and forum anyway. Mindfulness is just full of paradoxes like this.

I didn't even used to tell anybody that I meditated, for some reason I believed it to be the domain of new-age types. and I thought people would judge me because of that. Mindfulness made such enormous improvements to my life, that one day, I decided that I would be in the closet no longer. This is a wonderful, life affirming practice, and I am proud to be associated with it.

[Metaphysical Me]

I don't think that I take mindfulness too seriously.
On the other hand it's the most serious thing to ever happen to me. Mindfulness is just full of paradoxes like this.

Yeah, I agree.

[Metaphysical Me]

I guess I am still totally in awe of meditaion and mindfulness, even after 15 years. And keeping beginner's mind comes naturally to me, seeing how much the practice evolves over the months and years, how many places it takes you, how you keep learning endless new things.

It's definitely like peeling an onion, one layer at a time... Always more levels, more meta-levels to uncover... Always new surprises, new epiphanies, new deeper, more visceral understanding.

I definitely think that people like the Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and Buddhist monks and nuns throughout the ages have always been *life-long* practitioners, learning ever more, ever more, right up to their deaths.

So I like to keep an open mind and be curious about the endless myriad of aspects that people bring to mindfulness and experience in mindfulness.

Anyway, I'm just wary I guess, about discussing mindfulness. I guess I will see whether discussions lead to fruitful, deeper understanding and insight, or not. I worry that the human frailties, pettiness and ego stuff will seep into discussions about it. I've certainly seen this happen in discussion of similar topics before. Dunno, just wary...

I've become so used to meditation being an introspective, solitary practice, that having it a subject for general discussion is quite a culture shock and challenging. But probably *precisely that* (discussing mindfulness with peers) is yet another new and wholly unexpected meta-layer of the mindfulness onion...

Adventures, adventures...

XXX Janey