Mindfulness

Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a mental process where one tries to bring ones focus or attention to what is occurring in the present moment. Any observations are done without judgement. Good or bad, what is is what is.

Mindfulness to a lot of people is just about learning to meditate. But that's not really what it's about.

Mindfulness is a practice that came from Buddhism. Buddhists taught that having the "right Mindfulness" was one of the necessary steps to be happy.

The basic idea is that you should always be aware of what you're thinking about and determine if it's consistent with the path you want to follow.

This sounds straightforward, but most people don't sit around thinking about what they're thinking about.

We go along on cruise-control. Just reacting to each moment, without stopping to think about what we're doing.

So people practice stepping back and concentrating on a single idea, blocking out other thoughts and learning to refocus on that idea when they get distracted.

Meditation is just one way to help people get to a point where they can start being mindful.
(And some people like to meditate as a way to relax).

What Does It Look Like?

All mindfulness exercises consist of learning to focus on one thing. Sometimes it's your breathing. Sometimes it's a familiar object or activity.

Try this meditation activity where you are concentrating only on your name and blocking out all of your other thoughts.

You may find it hard to focus with him talking. But hopefully, you get the idea that when a bunch of ideas cloud your brain, you can learn to let them go and "clear your mind".

Once you've learned to clear your mind, you'll be able to focus on what you're doing at a given moment and decide how to make the best of it.

This video explains mindfulness a little more clearly.

It is more about the purpose than the "how-to."

Ok. Now it's your turn to practice some mindfulness.

There are various meditation techniques for practicing mindfulness.

They all involve focusing closely on normal things and experiencing them differently. It is like looking a painting by Georges Seurat, and focusing on a single spot until we see the dots that make it up.

😺 Choose ONE meditation technique from the CHOICE BOARD, and try it!

What do you think?

😹 Also, you must comment on at least one other student's document.

Here are some Mindfulness activities you can try.

Here are other meditation videos that you can try:

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