"Go inside and listen to your body, because your body will never lie to you. Your mind will play tricks, but the way you feel in your heart and in your guts, is the truth." Don Miguel Ruiz
Living Mindfully means we are aware and fully present in our life. Rather than being on 'autopilot' body in one place, (driving the car) and mind in another (the commitments of the day) we are fully and authentically present in the moment, just as it is. Focussed and present. What we say and what we do are in alignment with our true nature. Some people describe living with mindfulness as a sense of feeling at home with themselves.
So why Mindfulness and Meditation? Daily practice allows us to:
Regulate our emotions
Increase calm and reduce stress
Make good decisions
Step off the hamster wheel
Maintain our health and well-being at all levels.
Improve sleep
Have authentic relationships, especially the relationship with yourself.
Sandcastles If you've ever watched a young child going about everyday life, they are fully present and in the moment. Children are authentic and fully present in the natural ebb and flow of life. They laugh, they cry, they are honest. Of course as adults we're not going to throw a tantrum in Ailse 3 if we can't get our way, as we grow older, we learn about emotions but that doesn't always mean we regulate them, especially in times of stress.
As we grow older it seems this natural flow gets interrupted. Sharon McDowell put this very eloquently when she says we forget "how we were before the world got its hands on us." There are times however when we are reminded of this natural flow, perhaps when taking a walk in the forest or by the sea, when we're engaged in an interesting work project or hobby, playing sport, listening to music, those times when we feel fully engaged and connected to what we are doing.
As we grow older we have to retrain our brain to be more mindful on a daily basis. Instead of living on automatic pilot where the body is in one place (driving the car) and the mind in another (next weeks commitments) Mindfulness can help us relearn to be in the moment attending to the task at hand, body and mind in one place.
The good news is, retraining is possible. It just takes practice, commitment, and a little time to attend to yourself. Then, rather than the tendency to be on automatic pilot or running on a hamster wheel, we know how to self-calm, self-regulate and how express ourselves with ease and authenticity. Some people describe it as 'coming home' Link: Centre for Mindfulness.
The Science. Imagine, with a little daily discipline we can positively change the structure of our brain. Science has shown that after eight weeks of Mindful Meditation, grey matter in areas of the brain associated with stress, fight and flight reduces and in areas of the brain associated with calm, ease, focus, well-being, and decision-making grey matter is increased.
It's pretty amazing that we have it within us to change the structure of our own brain. That with Mindfulness and Meditation we can empower ourselves to better mental and physical health, that we can breathe and live a little more lightly.
