Practising Mindfulness Latest Posts

  • Centered

    Some time ago if I’d heard someone describe themselves as ‘centered’ I wouldn’t have considered them as a serious contender, however, I now know, this was because I had a very poor understanding of what it meant to feel this way

    It was only last night that I found myself wondering how to describe a certain state of mind. If anything, the way I felt, was a sort of non-feeling. And so today’s post is in response to last night’s state of mind.

    Being centered is to be exactly as the word would imply: in the centre. And last night I neither felt happy or sad, satisfied or dissatisfied, comfortable or uncomfortable, I was simply somewhere in between. I had no opinions on anything one way or another. I was centered.

    We must understand how this is a useful place to become familiar with, so that we may return to it, during stressful times

    We are emotional beings and these emotions are a very necessary part of us. The trick, of course, is to be in control of these emotions through being mindfully aware of the thoughts that drive them. When this is the case, we can hone and direct our passions, in a way that is controlled and at its most efficient. It’s when we act impulsively, without direction and planning, that things can go wrong. Being centered helps us to act in a calm and rational way. So if you want to be a serious contender, mindfulness, is key.

  • Empower Your Higher Self

    By taking control of your chattering mind you’re automatically giving your higher self a chance to be heard

    I firmly believe in the concept of a higher self. Without this belief to call on I feel my life would be at risk of spiralling out of control. And the important point to gain from todays post, is not so much the idea of a higher self, but the necessity of allowing this aspect of ourselves to be heard.

    If we never take the opportunity to stop and take control of our minds, through meditation that leads to improved mindfulness, what chance would a quiet, peaceful, and loving voice have of being heard? This voice is of course our own and can only be heard once all other chatter is still.

    Our internal chatter is the self-programming that instructs us on how to think and behave. And this in turn is based on our beliefs, hang ups, fears and ambitions. There’s a lot of clutter there and some of this clutter is the deciding factor in so many of our difficulties and anguish. So when we’re able to silence all the noise – if only for brief moments – our higher self is given the opportunity to break through.

    Your higher self knows the answers to so many of your questions. It is the part of you that knows what you must do in order to live well

    Through choosing to take control of your mind, you will be empowering your higher self, to award you clear instructions on what you must do. Consider how the only motivation of this aspect of your self is love. When we give love a voice, what do we hear?

  • My Life Saving Medicine

    Of late I’ve come to recognise how very important my medication is and the importance of taking it daily

    If I want to calmly enjoy each day, and be in command of my words and behaviour, I must remember to take my medication each day. My medicine helps me to remain aware of my nature and how fear and anxiety influences my behaviour. In addition to this, it helps me remain calmly aware of the nature of others and the dangers of allowing adult-children (self-centred people) to manipulate me with their cute and naughty ways. I’ve always been a sucker for allowing children to get the better of me with their naughty, manipulative, tricks.

    It’s important for us adults to be aware of the self-centred nature of adult-children. After all, we’re not doing the child any favours, if we’re failing to set firm boundaries

    And so, time and time again, we must remind ourselves to take our medication, as it’s the minds tendency to draw us back into old patterns of distraction and forgetfulness, as this is where it feels most comfortable. My habit has been to sleepwalk through life. Sleepwalking in respect of my lack of awareness of the self-centred. The self-centred have no concern for your wellbeing whatsoever. Their only concern is for themselves. It could be argued that this is the truth of human nature, however, I would suggest, that once we are grown we have a greater capacity to genuinely concern ourselves with the needs of others. My medicine helps me with this. Sometimes the search for the adults is lengthy.

    You might now ask: What is this wonderful, life saving, medicine?

    Well of course I’m talking about meditation leading to improved mindfulness. In terms of all the above and more, there’s no doubt in my mind, that this is the tool that’s making the difference. I can no longer sleepwalk through life with a lack of awareness. It was this lack that always left me feeling confused, unstable, and downtrodden. My daily dose of meditation continues to help me separate those that have any level of consideration for my needs and wellbeing (adults) from the gameplaying manipulative children (adult-children). You can raise your awareness too. It’s the simplest solution there is and I find the real adults have a far better grip on reality. A better grip on what really matters. And those that only have self-centred concerns tend to be the most destructive.

  • Emancipation from Identity

    As I meditated this morning my mind began to question the purpose of identity

    We all need to belong do we not? It’s important for us humans to be part of something, to feel included, valued and loved. Freud noted that one of our most powerful drivings is the need for greatness, perhaps, when we have a strong identity, it’s easier to find this. It’s my suggestion that we question what we identify with and question the value of this identity.

    I feel the longer we hold on to an identity, that automatically associates us with a negative and painful past, the longer we stay trapped

    Many would argue that it’s important to hold on to our identity. It is. after all, who we are. If we think of ‘our people’ as a group or race that have overcome adversity in the past, we must hold on to everything associated with this, and in turn be one of the great. All well and good, and yet hanging on to the hurt and anger from past oppression, and continually teaching guilt to the innocent, turns us into oppressors.

    Why would we need to continue to teach people, who have no connection to the past other than say a language or skin colour, to feel guilty about the wrongs of their ancestors? So we feel a sense of power? Guilt is most certainly used as a means of control over human behaviour, but ultimately backfires when seen for what it is. In fact those who are taught they are guilty will behave in a way dictated by this. An abused child, who has buried feelings of guilt, may well go on to become an abuser as an adult. In this respect what way might we be keeping racism alive?

    Identifying as a good, loving and compassionate human being, must surely be the only identity you’ll ever need

    And so during your meditation ponder on identity. Does what you identify with set you free? If not, simply consider yourself as a fellow human being, who is seeking to be the best version of themselves as possible. Consider love as the only companion you need. Consider the greatness you will find.

  • Golden Earrings

    Just recently I ordered a new watch from a very well know jewellers online shop. On arrival of the package I was immediately suspicious due to its size. The package was much smaller than you’d expect a watch to be. Even so, I opened it and, rather than the expected watch, I found a pair of earings, exactly like the ones in the image above.

    Me being me I was initially a little irritated and then thought of how stoicism and mindfulness would help me. So instead of being annoyed and disappointed I though of: ‘what stands in the way becomes the way’

    What could I learn from my initial feelings? I now understand that my feelings where driven by two things: a lack of control over the situation and my poor judgement of the service I’d been provided. Stepping back from feelings we can asses the situation differently. Mistakes are made by busy people who’re less informed about the importance of mindfulness. Recognising this calmed me and sending the earrings back became an easy process once I’d regained my calm and rational self.

    Giving every event significance, that we’re able to turn to a positive, has great power

    Through asking myself what I could understand about my feelings, should something similar happen again, I’m now empowered to deal with it in a way that is far more respectful to the balance of my mind. And there is the key: I’m empowered to be far more respectful to the balance of my mind.

    Let’s think about giving the event a positive significance. As someone who lives with slight hearing loss and tinnitus, I now also understand, that the ringing in my ears is diminished, when I seek to balance my mind through never looking to control anything that is outside my influence. Be this people or events, when I truly understand, that the only thing I’m able to control is my mind – its drivings (guilt, fear, love), how I think and how I respond to those thoughts – those ear-rings become a beautiful and powerful message.

    Take control of your life through understanding the power of Mindfulness

  • Fear that You Cannot Feel

    Fear that we cannot feel shows itself in other ways. This is another reason why awareness is so important. Here, I’m talking about an awareness of how the fear we cannot feel, manifests itself.

    It’s my understanding that a lifetime of low level, free-floating anxiety, can lead to all manner of health issues. As such, the sooner we recognise it, the better.

    Where does this anxiety originate?

    When our survival is threatened the body responds by releasing certain hormones. Constant, heightened levels of these hormones is not a natural state of affairs, and will cause damage. There may have been times during our developmental years where we felt extreme levels of stress and fear. The consequences of this can follow us all through our lives, and if remain unchecked, result in illness.

    We’re instantly empowered when we understand how the mind will seek other solutions rather than deal with the real issue

    We are frightened of fear itself. We are often reluctant to address the root issues and where they lie. Because of this we take pain killers, we continue with a lifestyle that is damaging, and we spend time hoping that someone else will look after us, and simply take our problems and pain away. No one can do this for us. We can only be shown the solutions; it is then up to us to become actively involved with applying them to ourselves.

    Fear can stop us from asking the all important question: what is the root to this problem?

    One of the consequences of mediation is the surfacing of previously unfelt fear. This is the reason some will warn you against meditation. Perhaps these people are fearful themselves. When we meditate, on a regular basis, we become more mindful (aware). This challenging awareness could save our lives. Have you thought about that?

    Learn to Meditate

  • Choppy Seas

    Standing on the shore we might become fearful of going in and it’s not until we’re in do we become one with the water

    Think of how the wind causes the sea to become choppy. Think of the energy needed to churn up the water. Would the sea be healthy and as interesting as it is if it was always flat calm? Of course not. If it wasn’t for the tides and the wind the oceans would be stagnant and lifeless. Flat calm all the time is of no value to anyone.

    Can we think of everything in the same way?

    I believe we can. There are periods of upset before the calm and the calm once again gives way to upset. The movement of energy dictates that. A human mind is no different, and a mind that has become unmoving and stuck, may experience a sudden stroke or develop some degenerative disease. There must be movement, nature dictates that. If you look long enough you will see the importance of movement and change and how it enhances life. If you look for too long chaos will force your hand.

    There are those who believe in the need to destroy before building. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and all that

    There is some truth here. Destroying what holds us back would be a positive way of looking at this. Constant chaos without any periods of stability can hold us back. Can we destroy chaos? Yes, because chaos is an extreme, and is caused through standing looking at the waves for far too long. Walk forward and jump in, provided you can swim, that is.

    Train your mind, learn to be mindful

  • Right Thinking

    Be aware of this: In the minds of many, the degree of happiness and length of their survival, is determined by the amount of control they have over others. Most often this is other family members. For you, happiness, must be determined by how much control you have over yourself. If not, you will be, as the many

  • A Great Device for Helping with your Mindfulness Training

    A physical reminder of what exactly you’re supposed to be doing works wonders

    I am a bit of a G-Shock fan and do have a small collection. And as a result of trying out several types of vibrating watches, I’ve come to the conclusion, that the Casio G-Shock GBX-100, is the best at helping with my mindfulness training.

    With the GBX being a smart watch you can link it up to the Casio ‘G-Shock Move’ app and alter all kinds of setting

    You can obviously set alarms and keep the time accurate and this watch also has a useful tide graph that tells you the high and low tide times on any coast line you might choose (I’m a keen open water swimmer so like to know what the tide is doing near me). More than anything though, this watch has a training program that counts down time intervals, with a gentle vibration between each one. As you can see from the image above I currently have this watch set to five minute intervals. After each five minutes, the watch vibrates once and allows the wearer to know when each interval has passed. I find meditating for a total of twenty five minutes each day is sufficient for me. The final alert is more sustained so it’s clear when time is up.

    Mindfulness training never stops being a challenge for some so we must use anything that helps

    The physical vibration every five minutes is very powerful at bringing my mind back to my point of focus. Sometimes, I’m so distracted, that the moment I sit and close my eyes, my mind is off and running like a wild racehorse. I actually forget the reason I’m sitting with my legs crossed on a meditation cushion! The physicality of the vibration reminds me of my purpose so I can then bring my attention back to my chosen point of focus. I get on with my practice and improve my mental fitness.

    If you would like to purchase one of these watches they can be found here (UK) or if you’re on a budget and like my NATO strap conversions (I also include the original strap) and would like help setting up your watch I might – from time to time – have one for sale on my ebay site here! (worldwide delivery). I’ve converted all my GBX-100’s to take NATO straps as I find them much more comfortable than the original.

  • Focus on the Positive

    Your point of focus becomes your reality

    For the very reason it’s an obvious thing to say we can easily become blind to the fact. We must remind ourselves that the unconscious mind is constantly drawn to what it believes and doesn’t question whether our viewpoint is healthy or not.

    You might believe that human behaviour is crazy, perhaps some of it is, even so, what we must be very cautious of, is the tendency for the mind to generalise

    Because of this unconscious tendency to generalise beliefs (all humans are crazy) the mind will constantly draw us into finding confirmation of this. Watching the news is an example. The majority of what we see on the news is evidence of crazy behaviour. In order to steer the mind into a more positive viewpoint, we must become actively involved, in controlling what we expose ourselves to. In addition to this, we must actively remind ourselves of the mechanism of mind (hence this post) and how this awareness can improve the quality of our lives.

    Under no circumstances are all humans crazy. What humans are is gameplayers. As I heard recently: “It’s all a game and the point of it is seeing how long you’re able to remain on the board.”

    Staying on the board, for as long as possible, involves looking after your mind and body. Mental fitness is achieved through training the mind to remain present (as much as possible) and remaining aware of the tendency for the mind to be drawn toward generalised beliefs. If these beliefs are useful, up to date, and positive, all is well. The elimination of negative believes firstly involves the process of becoming aware of them.

    Remind yourself to look toward the beauty and love that’s there, provided you’re aware.