Mindfulness is not really a new concept
It, as however, become one of the best modalities for creating change in behaviors, awareness and cognitive thought are both very similar to this relatively new concept called “Mindfulness.”
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought with out accepting it” Aristotle.Aristotle, who died 322 years before Christ was born; this quote sums up this modern mindfulness.
Not everything we think is true. Not everything we do is productive!
Lets take, for example, time it is the most precious commodity we have but we waste so much time
If you want to be the best that you can be, use your time wisely with relationships, business and leisure and you will be amazed how fulfilling your life will become when we are aware of where we spend our time!
Use your time wisely. Time is money!
One exercise I have found to be affective with clients is to use a tangible object that we all have an emotional attachment to: money.
Give yourself an hourly rate for your time, lets say $150. Keep a daily record of time that you waste not doing things you had planned to do. So lets say, in one day you deem that you wasted 3hrs that’s $450 per day multiply by five that equals $2250 multiply that by 50 weeks, that’s a grand total of $112,000. This is a very simplistic example but you get the picture.
Being Mindful of your time is only one area of your life but it must become a priority to be the foundation of this new concept of living.
Worry is certainly one of the biggest drainers of our time becoming competent at mindfulness. And realizing that the only thing you can control is what you can do right now: Stay out of the 3 Ps
3Ps???
Perfectionism leads to Procrastination leads to Paralysis.
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life”
Matthew 6:27
Your thoughts can be your worst enemy
If you struggle with a problem like overwhelming emotions, your own thoughts can sometimes be your worst enemy.
For example, how many times have you had experiences like these:
- Getting caught up in criticisms about yourself or others that just made your situation more painful
- Completely missing what someone was saying to you because you were thinking about something else, and then the person got mad at you for not listening
- Not recognizing that a situation or relationship was making you upset, so you stayed in it much too long, until you were finally so frustrated that you exploded in anger
- Failing to notice that you were in a dangerous situation because you weren’t paying attention to what was happening until it was too late
These types of painful experiences are caused by a lack of attention to what you’re thinking, feeling, and doing.
In comparison, imagine if you could develop a skill that would help you pay better attention to what you were thinking, feeling, or doing at any given moment so that you could make healthier decisions and better choices that would improve your life. This skill does exist. it’s called mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of your thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and actions – in the present moment- without judging or criticizing yourself or your experience.
This means that in instead of getting distracted by your thoughts, worries, regrets, and criticisms, you pay attention to what’s happening to you in the moment so that you can make choices about what to do next.
This might sound difficult, but mindfulness is one of the most important core skills of dialectical behavior therapy, so it deserves lots of time and practice.
In any one moment of time there might be a dozen things to be aware of: how you’re sitting or standing, the sounds you’re hearing, what you’re thinking about, what someone else is saying, the way you’re breathing, what you’re doing, what someone else is doing, physical pain that you’re experiencing, the texture of something you’re holding, how you’re feeling emotionally, and so on.And then in the next second, all of these things might change.
Mindfulness means that you’re aware of what’s happening to you and around you (“Now I’m listening”) and you’re also aware of how those things are affecting you (“Now he’s saying something that’s making me upset”).
It might sound impossible that you could be aware of all these stimuli at one time. However, with a little practice you can learn how to shift “your attention so that you become more aware of each of them.
How can I practice Mindfulness?
For example, a moment of mindfulness might sound like this:
- Now I’m aware that I’m slumping in my chair, I’d better sit up…
- Now I’m aware that I’m breathing in a funny way, I should relax and breathe more mindfully…
- I just noticed the music outside my window and the sound of trucks driving past…
- I’m such an idiot for what I said last night.
- Okay, now I’m criticizing myself and being unmindful, I need to pay attention to what I’m doing.”
- Remember, the goal is to do the best you can. No one is mindful all the time.
- In a typical day you “might catch yourself being unmindful a hundred times. When you do, just gently refocus your attention on whatever you’re thinking, feeling, or doing, and let go of any criticisms or judgments that might distract you.
Here are four important skills that will help you develop your overall mindfulness:
- Practice mindful breathing
- Use wise mind
- Practice beginner’s mind
- Complete a task mindfully
Many people are aware of these skills from other disciplines. Many religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have been practicing mindfulness or meditation as part of their regular practice. However, you don’t have to be religious to enjoy the benefits of mindfulness.
Several successful psychological treatments, for many different problem, are currently using mindfulness exercises as part of their therapy.
If you want to learn more about mindfulness, visit and subscribe for http://mindpeacemastery.com