mindfulness 4 life

[lopeza]

MINDFULNESS LIVING
By
Abel Lopez
I have been practicing Mindfulness Living for the last couple of years and as a side effect, there have been some changes in my life. Physically losing over 65 pounds, of unwanted fat and regaining a more muscular physic. Mentally having grown in my ability to respond in situations where my first reflex action was to react, as well simplifying my spiritual life and relation with God. So the other day when a friend asked me, the question what is Mindfulness Living anyway and could it help him? (I thought to myself Finally!) An opportunity to share my new found knowledge with others. Yet when I was finally asked the question, I had no response I felt that I would not be able to fully explain Mindfulness Living to him fully in a few words. I remained silent after a few minutes I explained to my friend that I needed to think about how to best answer his question. After giving it some thought this was my answer, mindfulness living can not be explained in words it must be experienced. A great example of this, is a joke, if I tell you a joke and you don't get it then I try to explain it to you, it losses its purpose because the purpose of the joke is not that it needs to be explain the purpose of a joke is to make you laugh. So having said that
The best way to describe what Mindfulness Living is, is to start with what its not. First and foremost, mindfulness living dose not mean mindlessness living, nor is it by any means a cure all, fix all, magical chant or potion, to be used to solve all life's little problems, in fact, mindful living doesn't change any of the things that are currently happening to you . nor am I giving you something you don't already have. Mindfulness is not a religion or some kind of material representation of a god, aka ( Jesus' face on a tortilla) to be bowed down to and worshiped rituality for material gain, or salvation all the while living in fear of not doing so, may invoke some sort of punishment for not being a devoted mindless follower. Mindful living dose not confuse spirituality with thinking of God, while washing the dishes. Mindfulness is just washing the dishes. Dish washing is a fairly common chore that most us are familiar with so ill use it as an example. Let us suppose that after you finish washing the dishes you're planning on taking a well deserved break, it's been a long hot day and theirs a pitcher of ice cold lemonade in the refrigerator. So while washing the dishes most of your focus is on the cool sweet lemonade, with very little interest spent on washing the dishes. When you wash the dishes mindfully you give them your full attention, you feel the shapes of the cups, see the patterns on the plates, and listen to the clinking of the spoons in the sink and smell the citrusy aroma of the dish washing liquid using all your senses taking it all in. Then after you dry them and put them away in there proper place then and only then do you move your attention to the lemonade. Mindfulness is, a way of looking at the world through the eyes of a 3 year old child with the fascination and attention of discovering things for the very first time. It's living in a present focused, non-judgmental, non-attachment state of being and please don't confuses non-attachment with detachment they are very different look them up in the dictionary and see for your self. Think of mindfulness as a button you push that takes you off of a socially conditioned, auto pilot. It's just like turning off your cars Cruz control. Now you're in control and you realize it's your foot on the gas peddle and how fast you go is up to you. These days most people live in a multitasking fast paced world, things that were designed to make our life easier have had unhealthy side effects. With laptops and cell phones, keeping us connected, now people can get a hold of each other 24/ 7 as they say, so called smart phones with the internet and e-mail that keeps us working even when we are at home, as well as keeping us at home will we are at work. This can cause us to not give our full attention to either loved ones or the boss. Not to mention all these so called time saving gadgets do not come for free they come with a price tag. So to pay the bills we tend to cram as mush as possible in to our already busy schedule. We often find ourselves in a race to get from point A to point B and end up at point Z caught up In an out of control whirlwind that takes us from point A to point M then back to point B and not to mention points 123 before we get to Z and before you even realize it you've arrived. With no idea how you got there what happened in-between is a blur of fragmented memories. What experiences or opportunities did we miss out on? My point is if we don't start slowing down and start paying attention to this moment (what moment) this moment, because the next moment is this moment when it comes, If we don't start focusing on the here and now we may miss out on something truly wonderful, (Life it's self). Allen Watts compared life to music, in music, like in life; the point is not to get from the first note to the last as fast as possible. Other wise all songs would be composed of 2 notes A flat and B major ta da the song is done. No music is about listening to each and every single note to hear the rhythm feel the beat and dance to it, while it plays. Life is composed to be lived as it plays moment by moment note by note. Mindfulness Meditation can help us achieve this; don't misunderstand me it's not about turning you in to meditating zombie. (Zen master story about meditation) The master was out for a walk when he came across a student meditating. What are you doing the master asked the student? The students reply was, im meditating I order to obtain mindfulness. Upon hearing this master picked up a rock and started rubbing it against the sidewalk. The student asked what you are doing. The master replied im polishing this rock to make a mirror. How can polishing a rock make a mirror, the student asked? How can sitting in meditation make you more mindful the teacher replied? Ok so if meditation dose not make you more mindful then why meditate? Mindful Meditation helps strengthens our mind and body it is the best way to ground thoughts, just as lifting weights builds our mussels mindful meditation is a way of doing mental pushup to strengthen our mind. The breath can anchor us to what is happening here and now. Eckhart Tolle describes the breath is also called the swinging door it connects the mind with the body. When we meditate we should be like a tree frog sitting on a lily pad back strait and head up arms and legs relaxed breath in, breath out not forced just sitting feeling the warm summer sun as it warms our bodies listening to the birds singing and bees buzzing concentrating on the breath relaxed but not asleep and if a fly wonders by we flick out the tong and lunch is served if the sun gets to hot we go for a swim filling the needs as they arise, as our thoughts come and go like clouds in the sky. There is a saying that I like to use when talking about thoughts, that says, its the dog that wags the tail and not the tail that wags the dog. Maybe this will help you understand thoughts and how they can take us for a ride. Picture this you are sitting by the edge of a big river watching the boats go by and before you know it you find yourself onboard one of the boats you don't know how you got there but there you are, looking back at the shore, asking your self how did this happen? I was looking at the boats now Im going for a ride on one. This is exactly how our thoughts work. the problem with this is that thoughts can tell stories that sometimes can be a distortion of reality like ripples in the water they distort the reflection. (Still waters do not distort.) Thoughts are often a very one sided points of view and not the whole story. ( Shunryu Suzuki called this making waves when there is no wind blowing) thoughts are not very good at seeing the hole picture the parts thoughts don't know, thoughts are all too happy to make up like a mental game of mad libs. Meditation helps us look at our thoughts and see them for what they are and not an interpretation of what we think they are. Mindfulness can keep us on the shore and in control. Ok, why do we care if we control our thoughts or our thoughts control us? one word stress, that causes Anxiety this produces adrenalin, which triggers the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response is hardwired into us for survival it is a auto response, conditioned in to us left over from the days when just about everything on the planet wanted to eat us, it was a necessity for survival, the problem is that in today's fast paced world. Our thoughts trigger the fight or flight response in none life threatening situations (examples') thoughts can cause our subconscious to react to faults logic association (example) a drunk driver kill a friend of mine ergo I hate alcohol and anyone who drinks. Distorted thoughts can cause hyper active Worries (Examples) are the kids ok, how am I going to pay the rent this month, nobody likes me. when In reality at this moment your worrying about things that have not happened and may never happen but day after day all day long and sometimes even all night long we have these thoughts causing us to have not only mental but physical problems. Fact during the fight or flight response the body sends all available blood to the hart and legs away from the brain and other vital organs so that when danger is near you ready to fight for your life or run for you life, organs like the liver kidneys as a result are left with less blood in them to do there work properly here are some of the problems caused by anxiety weight loss, weight gain, hart dieses, chronic head aces, phobias, respiratory issues, insomnia, lowers our immune system allowing us to get sick easily and often. To be mindful is to see a thought when it arises, notice it, notice your interpretation of it, notice the emotions it rises, and then breathe in breath out and then respond and not react. Remember Do not try and stop the thoughts because that is not possible let them come and let them go they are like clouds in the sky they arise and depart all on there own. Take notice of your thoughts and then ask yourself this question, is this thought relevant or irrelevant to what happening here and now and respond accordingly with right action or right non-action.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Breathing exercise
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out
Breathing in, I notice that my in-breath has become deeper
Breathing out, I notice that my out-breath has become slower
Breathing in, I calm myself
Breathing out, I feel at ease
Breathing in, I smile
Breathing out, I release
Breathing in, I dwell in the present moment
Breathing out, I feel it is a wonderful moment
Verses summarized in the following way In, Out, Deep, Slow, Calm, and at Ease, Smile, Release, Present moment, wonderful moment. Present moment only moment

[FeeHutch]

Hello and welcome to the community!
I really like this piece you've written but popping my moderator hat on for a moment, could you edit it into paragraphs please. It would make it easier to read. Your enthusiasm for mindfulness is so apparent which is brilliant

[Gareth]

Hi Abel,

This is a beautiful post, and your passion for mindfulness is plain to see.

It would be lovely if you stuck around and joined in with some of the discussions. I'm guessing that English is not your first language, so hopefully that's not too difficult for you.

Your lovely post would be something that we could share around the site, although it would need a little editing. It's not something that I would have time to do at the moment, but maybe that would be something we could sort out in the future?

Maybe you could set up our EM spanish site?

[Sally]

Wonderful piece, thoroughly yet so simply explained. Thankyou

[Ponder]

Nice to meet another wordy person.

Moreover, someone who thinks similar. You certainly come across as someone who has a good handle on what they hold true. I agree with much of what you say.

I do struggle with trying to keep my mind on target, however I don't think it's a bad thing when my mind does slip and goes into sleep mode. I'm working on it, however like exercise, if I do to much at once, I tend to find the strain can push me away from trying the next time. I accept those moments I stare into space ... it's space I needed to have.

Again though ... I made the effort to read right through your text, and glad I did. Writing can be a form of mindfulness I guess. Trying to distinguish what is best said as the words manifest, to then at other times, allowing the thoughts just to roll off the keyboard as they come.

Great read ... hope all is well.