Mindfulness & Thankfulness

The last few days I've been leading out morning meditation exercises for our school's Staff Training sessions. Then tonight, while fighting to focus on some difficult positions in Hot Yoga , I was reminded of some very important life lessons.

I will share two of them with you today.



First and foremost is mindfulness.
Simply put, paying attention selectively.

Modern society bombards the individual with a myriad of (sometimes useless) stimuli. Nevermind that naturally, our senses are already on overload, nowadays we also have to contend with technology, the media, traffic. Ha!

And then we wonder why we have so much difficulty focusing on the things that matter.
Well, firstly, each person's brain is made, developed, and used uniquely. And the differences in the activation of our brain often causes differences in our overt behaviours - whether we are aware of it or not.

Hence I cannot stress enough the importance of intentionally selecting what we pay attention to and practising keeping that attention on that one thing.
This can range from simply paying attention to a simple task one is carrying out, to writing a long essay, critically solving a difficult problem.

Without attention, there is no processing, no retention, and no recall.
In other words, no learning.
Ok, perhaps there is not a complete absence of learning... since our cells can still learn and remember things on a physical cellular level.

How to practice paying attention you ask?
Well, there are many ways.
Just the simple awareness that you want to pay more attention sometimes is half the battle won.
Start noticing when you "tune out" and make an effort to pay more attention whenever you are presented with a familiar "tune out" situation.

For example, when someone is telling you a long story about what happened on the way home today... You suddenly find yourself drifting off, wondering what you should eat for lunch, who sent you an email, what book to read tonight before going to bed...
Instead, once that person starts telling a story, tell yourself to pay attention.
Actively look at the person, try to visualize what he/she is saying...
The more you do it, the easier it will become!

Next, there is meditation. (Of course I would get around to that at some point!)
When, in meditation, you start to block off all the senses one by one, you are selectively paying attention.
Next, keep talking to yourself, telling yourself to focus on the sound of your breath.
As your breathing gets longer, deeper, louder, and more rhythmic, you might find your mind wandering. Each time it does so, just acknowledge that it did, push the thought away, and continue to focus on the breath.
Patience.
Patience and lots of practice.

It is important to develop this ability to live life mindfully.
Without it, our lives would pass us by unknowingly and without purpose.
Living life with awareness is essential to living a rich purposeful life!




Now, this awareness of mindfulness brings me to the second important life lesson:
Thankfulness.

As you can see, the slogan of my blog is "Thankfulness is the Beginning of Happiness".
Sometimes the only hindrance to thankfulness is the lack of mindful appreciation.

If we take this time, for example, to examine the breath again.
What a wonderful, frequent and yet much taken for granted reflex/habit this is!
As you pay attention to your breath, you start noticing how it feels when you breathe in and out...
How do you feel if you stave off the inhale for a little longer than usual ?
You feel deprived and flooded with relief once you finally take in the air that you so long for.
The fact is that breathing is life-giving... and that we are such fragile creatures living in a fragile temporary world...

How ironic it is that we can so easily take each breath of life and not even realize it!
So when one practices mindful breathing, one can bring to the forefront a newfound gratefulness for life itself. A gratefulness to our Creator for giving us this Breath of Life.... and for sustaining it.
In addition, an awe that despite our shameful negligence to continually praise God for this ability to breathe, here we are... still alive, still breathing, still not realizing the importance of the breath.


What a generous, forgiving Lord we serve.
How undeserving we are.

And how great the concept of Grace truly is...
When approached with mindfulness and thankfulness.


I have just shared with you the source of my happiness... :)