The Amazing Power Of Mindfulness.7 Techniques To Practice Mindfulness In Everyday Life
Part 1:
The Power Of Mindfulness.
An elder, talking to a child, says, I have 2 wolves fighting in my heart.
One wolf is fearful, vengeful envious, resentful,and deceitful.
The other wolf is compassionate, loving, generous,truthful and peaceful.
The child asks,"Which wolf will win the fight?"
The elder responds,"The one I feed."
That doesn't mean we try to deny, or hurt or kill the angry wolf. If we did that,we'd end up in a long battle, all the while somehow making that wolf more powerful through our hostility and fear.
Hating that wolf sucks.the strength right out of us. Instead, we calmly pay attention to the angry wolf, and let go of believing they have the answers.
If we can do that, they end up lying down next to us, no longer an enemy.
We help strengthen the kind and loving wolf,giving it nourishment and support, so that it can lead us onwards, so that we can follow it.
That peaceful wolf can become our steady companion, and show us the way through all kinds of different life experiences.
Restful or chaotic, enjoyable or disappointing experiences may come and go, but we can have a guide with us through it all.
This is what mindfulness can help you do.
Mindfulness allows us to see our thoughts and feelings as they are beginning, not after we have gotten overwhelmed or have made a mistake.
Its very powerful to know what we were feeling as we were feeling it. Know what we were thinking as we were thinking it.
With mindfulness we can choose what we will strengthen and bring into action,and we can choose what we will gently let go of.
We don't have to be at the mercy of old habits or old ways of thinking, or old ways of being. We are empowered.
It just takes practice.
Part 2:
7 Ways To Practice Mindfulness In everyday Life.
Meditation can be hard especially if you're just starting for the first time.
There is this pretty common misconception that meditation requires you to empty your mind and have no thoughts at all,which if you're anything like me,can feel pretty impossible. But that's really not what it's about.
Meditation is really just about mindfulness and all that means is being present and aware.
There are lots of different ways that you can start practicing mindfulness,so that eventually you might feel a little bit more comfortable with the idea of meditating.
In this part, I'm going to share seven ways that you can start practicing mindfulness in your everyday life,so that you can feel more present grounded and maybe feel confident to start a meditation practice.
1.
First and foremost be in nature, there's just nothing like Mother Nature to help guide us into the present.
You could just sit down outside and feel the Sun against your skin, have you ever really done that? really paid attention to that feeling, felt the warmth or maybe even just noticed how a little gust of wind feels?
It's really just about paying attention to all these tiny little details around us.The things that we might take for granted day to day color,the trees, the details, and the leaves, everything.
2.
Similarly you can try just going for a walk and it's obviously great to do this in nature but I've made it a separate point here because you can really do it anywhere you can do it in a city.
It's really just about going for a walk and really tuning into all of your senses,just pay attention to how it feels to actually take each step,every little detail about it,the way that your foot moves on the ground and how it all feels and then visually, you can just take in everything that you see around you.
3.
In the shower or even just washing your hands, it's an amazing opportunity to really slow down and just pay attention to how it feels.
Water is very cleansing and purifying so just take the time to be with it and really notice how it feels to go over your skin, you can pay attention to the scent or even the feeling of the soap,just all those little sensory details.
I feel like people always talk about getting their best ideas in the shower and I think that's why, because when we're in the shower it's so easy to just be really tuned in and yeah,that's when our ideas come to us.
4.
For this one,put away all the screens and just focus on eating a beautiful and nourishing meal.
You can just take your time and slowly notice and appreciate every flavor and texture. Just take your time and enjoy it.
5.
Here in this,poke a cooking class or maybe it's drawing,painting, building,writing, or whatever it is.
I believe that there is an activity out there for everyone that sort of just allows time to stop you know,or you can really lose yourself in what you're doing. Let me know in the comments if you guys have a favorite activity where you find this sort of release.
6.
You can also try bringing mindfulness into your yoga practice or whatever it is that you like to do for exercise. Though I do think it's a little bit easier with these slower activities like yoga and Pilates.
Just be present and focus on every muscle and movement.It will really change how exercise feel for you and I think a bonus of this is,it will make the workouts more effective because your body definitely will start to change.
7.
One of the best things to recommend for anybody who's new to meditation is to try a body scan meditation.
Basically just lie down and then you start to focus on the physical feelings and sensations in your body so just start at your feet and work all the way up.
So to begin, first focus on your toes and really just focus your energy on the physical sensations in that body part, imagine that it's sort of buzzing or pulsing with energy and then move to the feet,heels, ankles,calves, all the way up until you reach your head.
This is an amazing thing to do if you're having trouble sleeping or even want to take a nap.It's very regenerative and it definitely helps to go to sleep.
Maybe after trying these for a while you might feel inspired to start meditating.Let me know in the comments what you guys think.
Fantastic
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