What does it mean to be mindful—mindfulness means to be aware. It means to be attentive and be present in the moment.
Daily, we engage in a lot of activities mostly fast paced activities: we rush to work, we rush back home between that we engage in a thousand more rushed activities. This type of lifestyle results in disconnect from the soul. It may be useful to mention that religiosity has nothing to do with soul connection.
Our lives are so hurried that we no longer know how to enjoy life’s little pleasures everyone is stuck with gizmos, a few days ago an old friend called me up out of the blues said he would drop by he arrived at the agreed time, I was excited seeing him we took a walk down to the local bar to enjoy a meal and catch up on old times. Seated side by side my friend begins to fiddle with his phone exasperated I asked very calmly ‘if you didn’t have your phone right now what would you be doing’ I didn’t understand how anyone could cover over a 10 mile distance only to arrive and be fiddling with their phone— this is a type of mindlessness, you are either mindful or mindless. As soon as I asked that question he put his phone away and only then did we enjoy each other’s company
Below are some of life’s pleasures we seem to no longer know how to enjoy.
- Our friends and friendships
- Nature
- Doing nothing
Our Friends and Friendships:
The incident with my friend as described above succinctly reflects this point
Nature:
Look up sometimes observe the night sky on a clear night the starry host are numinous. Keeping tab on the moon phase is a delightful exercise. If your weekend isn’t too crammed treat yourself to a simple ritual of rising with the sun sit in silence observing your thoughts taking the inward journey into Self.
Doing Nothing
We no longer know how to enjoy the art of doing nothing. There are people who have no idea what that means doing nothing to gain something, a paradox, yet useful and beneficial
We all should have a few minutes daily when we do nothing and just simply observe the chatter of our mind it is a good step towards practicing mindfulness. Regardless of how busy your schedule, you must etch time out of no time to meet with Self — the inner man within.
mind the final frontier
Mindfulness is one of the best things you can gift yourself in our ever so chaotic world as it paves the way for renewal and rejuvenation of spirit, soul and body.
Mindfulness is not new it is an old art lost on us in the modern world, to reclaim this lost art we must slow our roll making conscious effort to work into our busy schedules ‘alone time’ that is time with Self.
Don’t be caught in the modern day dilemma of spending all your free time on/with gizmos and social media. What about investing some of your free time into meeting with your mind? which really is your greatest asset the time you spend in silence with SELF is time well spent. You will in time come to value the incremental benefits that will accrue from this practice.
There are many sources out there to pick a meditation technique but here is the one I used at the start of my journey with slight modifications e.g. along with affirming that ‘I am infinite being’ I would sometimes affirm ‘the father and I are one’ It is still one of my favourite affirmations.
The science of breathe Described in here are meditation techniques that have proved to be invaluable. As you go along you will reach the point where skipping meditation becomes impossible as your mind becomes your strongest ally.
Be clear that the goal of meditation is to merge with Self. Don’t become fixated with ESP-extra sensory perception when and if they occur, that is not the goal of meditation treat these sublime effects as pecks of the inward journey to Self. It may occur immediately or after several months of practice. Do not fixate just go along with the flow.
However as your ‘alone time’ or meditation progresses be attentive to your nightly adventures –- your dreams. Consider a dream journal to log your dreams as soon as you awake. Dreams are another of the super-conscious mind’s (the higher self) way of communing with us.
Through meditation the soil of our minds are better cultivated. Alone time rewards us with calmness, tranquility, serenity and such like qualities. Many find it hard and frustrating meditating or sitting in silence you don’t have to be hard on yourself start with baby steps start with a 5-10 minute practice and over time increase your mediation time. Start today and enjoy the little pleasures that accompany the practice of meditation or mindfulness.
Remember the mind is the final frontier so go on and cultivate the habit of meeting with Self through meditation.
Thank you for reading
yeye
yeye
yeye is an agnostic pantheist who borrows a leaf from all known perennial wisdom traditions, a chela that drinks from the cups of wisdom presented by custodians of ancient traditions. She lives life on her terms.
