Practising Mindfulness

Category: Education

  • Replace all the Parts

    When components are interconnected it means all of the parts will experience wear. If we replace a shock absorber on a car’s suspension system, we must replace all the interconnected components that are also likely to be worn. If not, we won’t experience the full benefit of the replaced part, and quite possibly, cause damage to this new part as a result.

    In this respect, if we want mindfulness to be effective, and receive great benefits from our practise, we must have an understanding of the interconnectedness and relationships between our thoughts and behaviours. Provided our understanding is deep enough, the practice of mindfulness, can improve our lives and help us understand why we do what we do. When we have this understanding we have the power to change.

    If we wish, we can trace the origins of mindfulness, back to Buddhism. And if we’re embarking on a spiritual path, as a means of developing ourselves, or simply because we have an interest in this area, then I will agree with the Buddhist’s point of view – that we cannot have mindfulness, without Buddhist beliefs.

    I am not on a spiritual path but I do want a healthy mind and body. In this respect, developing and improving my awareness of actions, words. thoughts, their root, and how they effect me, is the way forward. This, is to have a deep understanding, of mindfulness.

    I must remember that the mind is predisposed to reject what contrary to the established beliefs I hold. And to question the effectiveness of complicated solutions will help with this. Simple is challenging, and yet simple solutions, are always the most powerful. It’s conflicting beliefs that complicate matters. The belief that mindfulness must be associated with being spiritual can hold us back. We can take this one aspect of a belief system (mindfulness), believe in it’s effectiveness, and improve our general wellbeing.

    I feel that it’s much to the chagrin of spiritual leaders that we can take one aspect of a belief system, without having to abide to ridged doctrines, for it to be effective. However, to succeed at our endeavour of improved wellbeing, we must grasp all aspects of what it means to be mindful.

    The challenge is mindfulness in itself. Our addiction to being over stimulated, through thinking, lifestyle, beliefs and our behaviours is, so powerful, that the mind would much rather stick with this chaos, than find the opposing state of mind stillness will bring. The mind is often completely unaccustomed to stillness, especially during stressful, anxious times. And we can still the mind, through a deep understanding of mindfulness, even when what’s going on around us is the usual chaos. All we need do is believe it’s possible.

  • What Does it Take?

    What does it take to believe that we ALL hold the key to a beautiful life right there in our hands?

    I asked myself: Why didn’t I simply believe what I was being shown twenty five years ago, instead of creating the turmoil, I’ve experienced since? And I understand why. I understand that I didn’t have the courage and strength to look deeply enough into the root of my loneliness. I didn’t want to see how truly alone I was and still am. This alone is the alone we all have. We are all alone within our own minds and much of what we are doing is an attempt to escape this.

    Through looking deeply into my loneliness I understand that I have always felt this way

    And so much of my behavior over the years has been an attempt to ease this unrecognised yearning to feel less lonely. Almost everything: Pleasing people in an attempt to keep them close. The jobs I’ve done, money I’ve earned, and drink and drugs I’ve consumed. When I did finally look at the root of my loneliness it felt like I was going insane. Such was the pain, it felt like I was breaking in two.

    And I believe now, that having come through the other side, fear is no longer the obstacle it once was. What it took, was a true acceptance that I have the solution to cleaning up my life, easily, within my grasp. It took for me to finally accept that I was in charge of all my joys and sorrows. That it was me creating my good and bad experiences: That I am what I think I am, therefore, I am my thoughts. And when we have control over our thoughts we have control over our lives. It really is this simple, and what was clouding my engagement with this, was my determination to avoid looking deeply at loneliness. I was not accepting of myself. In the process all I created was my own personal hell.

    I feel anyone who is experiencing difficulties, and seeking a way out of this, must stop avoiding the self

    Many years ago I wrote about loneliness being the result of loneliness from the self. A failure to be in touch with ones self. Even seeing this and writing it down in a book was insufficient. So great was the fear and anguish. What I needed to do, was to clearly see and feel, all the pain and anguish of the lonely little boy I remained.

    And so, if you want a fast track to a beautiful life, look at what you hold in your hands right there in front of you. Believe the solution is easily within reach and it will be. Paradoxically, looking deeply into our suffering, means we stop choosing it as a life option.

    Learn to be aware of yourself; your thoughts, and award yourself the power, to create a beautiful life.

  • 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?

  • Success from Greater Understanding

    It’s true to say, the more you understand about any subject, the greater your chances of becoming skillful. 

    To draw a comparison, let’s think about meditation apps. Out of curiosity I have recently listened to one of these and found the experience very interesting. After just a few minutes of guided meditation I actually started to feel slightly stressed. The opposite of the apps intention. The problem, as I heard it, was that in comparison to my own, the person setting the pace of this guidance, had a slightly elevated anxiety level. I ended up being guided into a place that felt nothing like calm and more like mania. 

    It goes without saying that attendance on a meditation/mindfulness training course, has a far greater power, in helping us fully experience the benefits of meditation. Meditating in silent solitude is a completely different experience to being guided. Guidance may be necessary at first, yet, if the pace of this leaves us feeling stressed, it would only prove counterproductive. And if it does little to teach us about the process we’re about to undertake, we can be left feeling, like we’re stumbling around in the dark. Understanding the process is part of the method!  

    It’s also worth considering how improved understanding of the mind, and how the intervention of meditation can affect us, helps us to overcome the reasons for why most people fail to become proficient. It’s only once we’re proficient meditators are we able to increase everyday mindfulness. 

    The ‘faddish’ nature of phone apps may be doing more harm than good. 

    The ability to stick with meditation, comes from an improved understanding of the mind, and how to overcome its unwillingness to quieten. A course that uses models, relaxed guidance, and advice from an expert is, and will always be, the sensible choice.  

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  • Three Steps to Success

    Step One – Meditation Course

    Our workshop is specifically designed to teach the basics of mindfulness and meditation in one day. We believe in a no nonsense approach to teaching, and seek to remove much of the unnecessary confusion and mysticism, surrounding our specialism.

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    Step Two – Self-hypnosis Workshop

    During a meditative state, we seek to raise our conscious awareness, so we may better understand the nature of our thoughts. Hypnosis differs in some respects to this. Even though the word hypnosis originates from the Greek word hupnos, meaning sleep, we must not confuse it as such.

    Whilst ‘under’ hypnosis, we are in fact wide awake. All that has altered is our state of mind. This altered state concerns the bypassing of consciousness, so we may open the mind sufficiently, to gain access to our unconscious processing.

    It is often our unconscious beliefs and understandings, that directly conflict, with our conscious desires. As such, learning the skill of self-hypnosis, awards us the ability to directly alter those things that unconsciously hold us back.

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    Step Three – Self-awareness Workshop

    Raised self-awareness has to be one of the most powerful means of improving the quality of our lives. In real terms, the way in which this is achieved, is quite simple. The tools and information required, in order to begin the process of raising self-awareness, can be shared within one day.

    We begin by discussing the importance of how brief examination of the past, highlights any difficulties we may be facing, in the present. This includes our beliefs: how they are formed and how they continue to help or hinder our thinking in the present moment. Mindful understanding, of the extent to which the past influences the present, automatically raises our self-awareness.

    The techniques we teach, for recognising and removing the buried beliefs and character traits that seem to limit us through life, have proven invaluable. The School of Mind is committed to empowering you with these skills and resources.

    Living a life, with all the unnecessary suffering and anxiety removed, is achieved when we better understand ourselves and how our minds work. Once we see clearly, the type of mechanisms we employ to manifest our own obstacles, the less likely it is, they will arise in the first place.

    Contentment, mixed with a healthy appreciation of life and all it can offer, is something also awarded through raised self-awareness. It is true to say, once we have learnt how to be contented, our achievements, large or small, are far better appreciated.

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