Have you meditated today? okay if not, stop what you’re doing and meditate.
I will tell you a secret, I don’t meditate as much as I used to…The act of meditation is a lot harder to accomplish as I’ve gotten older, sure it was easy in college when I had more time to myself. However let’s be practical, many us have families, full time jobs, a house to take care of, crazy kids and a handful of to-do lists.
Not everyone gets the space to sit in a corner in silence with some incense and spacey music. That’s great if you can but what do you if you’re not able to do that? Repeat affirmations and grit your teeth?! No!
What i’ve learned is it’s actually easier to start bringing meditation with you into your daily life. This is what removes stress, overwhelm, anxiousness and our resistance. You gotta bring it all with you, everywhere you go.
You know where I meditate? While folding the laundry, driving or waiting in line at a store!
Mindfulness is like meditation on-the-go, it’s where we’re able to put our practice into our daily life and start opening up our awareness even further through the present moment. What’s unique about learning mindfulness is we’re able to become the observer of our personal reality.
WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness is a psychological process where we’re able to bring our attention directly towards our internal mind and outer reality as it occurs in the present moment. I like this quote by Psychologytoday:
“Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.”
In meditative practices the goal is to start opening our awareness towards our body, mind and spirit. With mindfulness you’re able to take all of that with you, 24/7. It’s an amazing skill to learn because it allows you to let go of resistant thoughts and become more aware that you are a creator of your experiences.
There are various ways we can start becoming more aware and the funny thing is most of them are simple, we’re just not practicing them.
Here are some easy ways you can start learning mindfulness in your daily life.
CONSCIOUS EATTING
Growing up I was one of the many families who ate in front of the tv instead of at the dinner table. I’ve learned to change that. As a golden rule in our house, no one has any electronics around our dining room, what a more peaceful environment it’s become! Unplugging for eatting, really brings our attention back to our bodies.
When we put down the phone, get away from the tv and the various distractions we can focus on not only what we are eatting but also our families. Food can even taste better when you’re being conscious of what you’re eatting. Conscious eatting also allows you to be more mindful of when chewing food and observing when you’re full so you don’t overeat on accident.
BLISSFUL SEX
Sex is a beautiful moment of surrender that is why it can also be extremely meditative. A lot of people are anxious during intimate moments, wondering about if they look good enough or if they’re doing the right move correctly.
Instead of constantly over-thinking, bringing our awareness back to the present really can open our awareness to surrendering to what is right in front of us. Beauty and Love.
When we are practicing mindfulness during sex we become more present with our lover. We can look into their eyes, focus on our breathing and really embrace the moment. During mindful sex, we can embody our natural tantric selves and be open towards the rhythmic flow
WATCHING YOUR THOUGHT PATTERNS
Being mindfully present can bring us a bit outside of our mind and into a place of silent observation, this can start with watching our thoughts and emotions. Our language patterns are ruling our lives. You are creating your world through words all the time. When we’re able to monitor them, consciously we may begin to question:
Does this serve me or my reality?
How can I start changing my thinking patterns to better suit my present reality?
DRIVING
Driving itself is actually an act of surrender, when you’re driving on a road you must go forward with the flow. We don’t usually drive backward, we go forward and surrender to the flow of traffic. If we take a moment to stop focusing on all these other things while driving like bad drivers, people going too slow or fast, we can realize we’re all just driving in straight lines anyway. It doesn’t matter. Turn up the tunes and flow.
THE ART OF PATIENCE
When waiting in a line, stand-still traffic, at a doctor’s office or anything else where we have to wait, usually we can get pretty annoyed. A lot of resistance can come up, where the act of “waiting” turns into a negative. The art of patience by being mindful of our present experience instead of “waiting” for the next thing, lets us relax. Patience shows us it’s okay because the universe has something amazing and even better in store for us. Everything in divine timing.
OBSERVING THE SIGNS, DEJA VU & MESSAGES
Being present as an observer we can start to pick up the details we would down right miss if we were too busy or overthinking. It’s actually ironic if you’re rushing, you’re more likely to have trouble finding your keys rather than relaxing and observing where they could be.
In the same way, when we’re present we can start to see into these subtle messages, repeated patterns like deja vu and synchronicities. Being mindful will teach us to start seeing the patterns and observing the details in our everyday life. Are you listening and paying attention? The signs are everywhere, if we’re conscious we can begin to see them.
LETTING GO OF WHAT IS OUTSIDE OUR CONTROL
One of the best lessons in mindfulness is letting go of what is outside our control. You may be helping create your future or you may be reflective of your past but let’s face it, that is out of our control. Detaching to our past and future self, really puts us in state of clarity with what is in front of us, right at this second.
Letting go of what is outside our control also can connect towards people, situations, or even the mentality of saving the world. This can really help ground us back into reality because we’re no longer concerned with what is outside our control. We can let go and move forward in a relaxed state of clarity.
SURRENDER
Let go and Let it flow.
Absolute surrender is pure bliss. It’s a state of receptivity, open awareness and the direct ability to completely let go of our negative resistance. The ultimate lesson for mindfulness is surrendering towards our present reality. It allows us to let go of the over-thinking and all the b.s. that clutters our mind through the illusions of time. The psychological illusion of time is what is cluttering so many of our minds.
We are anxious, overwhelmed and afraid by future events that haven’t happened yet case in point all the political hoopla going on right now. Likewise many are depressed, jealous, or stuck in the past memories that are holding them back. Look at your present reality right now, THAT is all that matters.
Take a moment and do some long deep breathing through the nose and out the mouth.
This is your present experience.
There is no “reaching” enlightenment. That is an end goal.
It is eternity within the present moment.
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