Practising Mindfulness

Category: Stress Management

  • Work More Efficiently With Less Stress

    Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

    Do you find yourself always late for appointments? Do you feel your work is overly demanding? Is there never enough time? Is your work/life balance out of kilter?

    If the answer is yes to any of those questions, attendance on a Meditation to Mindfulness Workshop will begin the process of change. You can work more efficiently. You can redress your work/life balance. You can ease the demands placed upon you.

    The greater control we have over our minds, the better able we are, at managing our time.

    In order to use powerful tools safely and effectively, we often need proper training. You wouldn’t put an angle grinder into the hands of someone who didn’t have an appreciation of how best to use its power

    The simplest solutions are always the most powerful

    Consider a pair of scissors. Two moving parts. Two pivoted sharp blades. Simple and effective. We can trace back over thousands of years to when scissors were first developed. They’ve changed very little in their design over all this time. That’s because their design is near enough perfect and can’t be broken down any further in its simplicity. However, don’t be fooled into thinking simple is easy.

    If the blades on scissors aren’t sharpened properly, they won’t cut as they should. If the pivot is too tight or too loose, they won’t cut properly. A really good pair of scissors can work out fairly expensive and for good reason.

    For this reason, simple tools must be respected. An appreciation of how challenging it can be to invent simple, powerful tools that work effectively awards them great value. What we undervalue we often dismiss as useless. In this respect, always be guarded at what you give away for free. In the process of your philanthropy, you’ll be diminishing the power of what you give away. We only have to think of how money is often undervalued when very little effort has been expended to get it.

    I will be running my Meditation to Mindfulness Workshops from September this year

    We never run with scissors. We use this tool slowly and respectfully. The same applies to tools that develop the mind. We use them slowly and respectfully. In this way, we can fully appreciate the power of simple.

  • Surviving a Toxic Environment with Mindfulness

    Photo by Daniel Torobekov on Pexels.com

    It could be that something has changed in your life and not for the better. Perhaps it’s your home life or it could be your work that has shifted. Something you previously enjoyed has changed into something toxic and stressful or even harmful to your emotional well-being

    If this is the case all is not lost. Firstly, don’t jump. This is certainly something I’ve done in the past. I’ve voted with my feet as it were. There can be times when this is the best strategy, however, more likely than not, it will be far better to make a plan before that jump! Leaping without first making a plan can increase our stress levels as we will potentially be making matters worse. At least for awhile anyway.

    This is where mindfulness comes into play. Now don’t get me wrong. I understand that the ability to remain calm and non-judgemental in stressful situations can be a challenge. Even now after years of study I still find myself spiralling out of control in reaction to the behaviour of others. Out of control that is, until I remember.

    I remind myself to cease judgement of the situation, to breath, and bring my mind back into the present. Time and time again I will need to do this and the result is a marvel.

    The results are marvellous because within the space I’ve created with mindfulness, I’m able to recognise how toxic the environment is, and the effects it’s having on my mind. I then see the importance of making a plan to remove myself from toxicity in a controlled manner.

    There is no need to jump from the frying pan into the fire when you have mindfulness

    What we actually achieve with mindfulness is a level of control over the self that is no doubt lacking in those around us. This control automatically awards us power. That’s right, with mindfulness we have the power to choose where we want to go, and how we do it. We have the power with mindfulness to step back from situations – remove ourselves from the influence of toxic people – and properly asses what we must do to improve the quality of our lives.

  • Quietly Observing War of the Forgetful

    It’s interesting how when I have cool-control over my mind, calmly observing the behaviour of the people around me, without judgement and emotion, I’m able to distance myself from its harm

    My mind is calm and quiet. I see the disrespectful son, insulting his father with no clear idea of how protected and shielded he is from the world through nepotism. If his father were to retire unexpectedly or become incapacitated in some way, the son would have a very rude awakening. He’s unaware of the true nature needed, and of what qualities it takes, to run a successful company.

    You see, I work for a company where the son, works for the father. A common thing and sometimes the dynamic can be difficult. If we were able to take each of them to one side it would be fairly easy to teach them how to better get along, before some calamity strikes. I feel it’s inevitable that things will reach a climax, and when they do, I’ll potentially be out of a job. At least for a while. So be it. Que sera, sera . . .

    Both father and son are players. In a way it doesn’t really matter. It’s only a small war of words and emotions. Something humans seem to thrive on, unless you’re a practitioner of meditation, and mindfulness that is. Then you thrive on something very different

    As someone engaged with the study of mind you’re able to defend yourself against any unnecessary, painful, war of words and emotions

    I’m aware of how father, son and colleagues, are attempting to play me. I often imagine myself as a spiting cobra, raised up, silently assessing the threat, ready to strike. I could, if I chose, spit the venom of well chosen words. Instead, knowing I have a dangerous bite, I silently observe the game-play and remind myself of how this war is the war of the forgetful. I choose not to engage with it, the war rages on without me. A practitioner of mindfulness has no need for such things. The practitioner of mindfulness has love on their side.

  • Calm and Untroubled Because I am Mindful

    What is it that causes anxiety? What is it that causes fear? How is it I fret and worry?

    It is my mind. It is my thoughts. For when my mind is still, there is no fear. There is no anger, worry, or anxiety. What remains is a beautiful feeling of serenity. Heaven on earth. A place I’ve found from within.

    It may take some time to reach this place, and when you do, you may wonder why it has taken so long to find such a simple solution. Stop questioning even this. Dismiss it as unimportant. What matters is that you are finally here.

  • 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

  • Aware of Awareness

    Image by Kaserei
    There is no intelligence involved in being aware and so in this respect we’re all over qualified

    It came about, not so long ago, that I moved to a quiet part of the country. I can’t even claim that this was any kind of conscious decision, I just knew that change was needed, as my life had come to an end. My business was concluded; time to run.

    It’s purely an observation to say, when time moves slower in certain parts of the country, or whole countries and cultures for that matter, those who have lived faster lives by comparison will feel over qualified

    So many of us are driven by our intellect and beliefs in success, and when we’re told to slow down and distance ourselves from the methods employed by others, it proves difficult. It’s the city banker or politician who meets the Buddhist monk. Never the twain shall meet. And the question is: how do we create a culture of awareness?

    Perhaps it helps to separate the monk from mindfulness and the guru from awareness

    I feel this is easily achieved. In the same way the over qualified, who move to quieter parts of the country, must learn to stoically compartmentalise, we can separate what we normally associate with meditation, mindfulness and awareness. In exactly the way mindfulness teaches us to become aware of our thoughts, we can question any of those old associations.

    It’s a hindrance for me to think about how others want to run their business. Instead I understand my responsibilities and never step beyond this

    It isn’t me that loses out through my silence. After all, as the wise man said: “those who know don’t talk.” What I know of human nature is, if a job has been done a certain way for a long time, who am I, or any outsider, to question those methods. And so we no longer need the guru or the monk to teach us how to be aware. Those times are gone. Just remove your preconceived ideas, close your eyes, notice the chair beneath your body, your feet on the floor, and pay attention to your breathing – your point of focus. Notice your thoughts, become aware, and bring your mind back to point of focus, once again. Remove your intellect. Emigrate to a quieter country. You are aware.