We listened to a presentation about mindfulness and its benefits. The idea is to train your mind so that you are more aware of what you are thinking about. It is quite easy and it only takes 10 minutes or less a day. You can spare 10 minutes.
All you have to do is sit quietly, not jiggling or jumping or bouncing about. You can sit in the crosslegged position on the floor or a cushion but you can also sit on a chair. Sit upright but not tense. Look at a spot on the wall and keep your attention on it or pay attention to each breath you take, trying to concentrate on it and enjoy it.
Why should you do that? Because normally, the mind wanders away from any single thing such as your target spot or your breath. Each time, you notice that you are not attending to your spot or your breath, bring your attention back to your target. That is the GOLDEN MOMENT, the moment you return your attention to your target because you are using your intention to pull your mind where you want it.
Doing this will not undermine your religion or your politics. What doing so does is increase your awareness of what you are paying attention to. Increased mindfulness allows you to see yourself and your world more clearly. The first step in improving your mindfulness is this kind of single point concentration.
The next step is actually more fun. After 6-12 months of daily practice (or as close to daily as you can manage), you may find that you are strong enough to not use a target. You can start with any target but when your mind wanders off, don't bother to correct it. Try to just observe it to sort of see where it goes. Often an untethered mind will jump from topic to topic faster than you can note down what it has touched on. Often an untethered mind will get "caught up in the story", as when you think of your irritating cousin or that frightening bill (how will you ever pay it?) But again, just as with a fixed target, put the cousin or the bill aside for now and go back to simple observation as soon as you can.
This kind of insight meditation can be exasperating since you keep finding yourself snarled in emotions or plans but it can also be hilarious and it can be very entertaining. Your insight, your vision may well be clear enough that you can clearly see that you do exactly the sort of thinking you berate your wife for using.
There is a big difference between relaxing tension away and training your mind. Relaxing is good and helpful but watching your mind helps with every aspect of your life, including your stressors. Some stress is good. No completely stress-free life is possible if you are alive.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
