What is Mindfulness? (part 2)

Tips on enjoying and achieving the best outcome from your mindfulness meditations.

Transcript

 Welcome back to Living Life Mindfully.  One of the questions I'm often asked is how can I become more mindful?  Well a great place to start is to sit quietly and take time to listen to your thoughts.  It's a good idea to try and plan time into your day to do this, whether it's first thing in the morning or during the day,  walking at lunchtime, or even sitting during a lunch break in a place away from your desk. 

By taking time out of your day to be mindful of your thoughts and feelings, We can effortlessly develop a more balanced view of the world we live in and enhance our lives with a kind and settled mind.  We become aware of where we are in our mind and environment, allowing us to enjoy the present moment. 

It's important to get the most out of your mindfulness meditation,  so I have some tips here for you.  You need to make sure you are comfortable right from the beginning.  If you're sitting on a chair, make sure it has a straight back and gently sit away from the back of the chair slightly to avoid leaning against it. 

The feet are flat on the ground and your hands can be on your thighs or gently cupped or connected together and resting on your lap.  If you are sat on a cushion on the floor, make sure you are comfortable sitting here for several minutes with your back straight, hands on thighs or cupped or connected together in your lap  and your knees must be lower than your hips. 

If you're lying on the floor or on the bed, for comfort have a mat to lay on and a small pillow to rest your head and neck on for support.  Arms need to be either down by your side or they can be resting on your tummy.  It's important to listen to your own body,  only you know when you feel uncomfortable and need to move your body into a different position. 

The key is to be comfortable throughout, so it's best to settle first before starting the guiding practice.  If at any point during the practice you begin to feel uncomfortable, anxious or faint, or just not feeling like yourself,  please gently bring yourself back into the environment by opening your eyes and either become aware of your surroundings, or get up and walk around if you feel safe. 

And only bring yourself back into the practice when you feel ready.  This is your experience, so you must listen to your body and what it needs at the time.  After you've listened to your first guided practice, you need to take a few moments to sit and bring yourself back into the room and environment, and it's important to take a few sips of water to rehydrate. 

The main information for your safety is not to listen to this meditation when you're driving or if you're operating heavy machinery.  So let's give it a go now.  Put everything down, your pen, your cup of tea, your mobile phone, and I want to allow yourself to sit for just one minute.  I'm going to allow you to sit here for one minute from now. 

And as this minute comes to an end,  I'd like you to take your notebook and pen and write down what you noticed.  Were you expecting to have a clear head free of thoughts?  In mindfulness we do not try to push away any thoughts. Our aim is to let them be and allow them to flow by and not get entangled up in the storyline. 

It's easier said than done. 

When you click into your first meditation,  you may find that become fidgety or bored, or your mind may wander off into thinking, planning, daydreaming, or reflecting.  This is absolutely normal for the mind to wander.  What I recommend you to do is just to simply bring yourself back to the voice in the practice,  and to carry on with the meditation  and being aware of your breath in your body. 

All you need to do is to follow the guidance in the meditation and enjoy it.  Once you've listened to the meditation, I'd like you to take a few minutes to rest and then with your notebook and pen, write down your reflections.  Sometimes when you write down what has arisen in your meditation practice, it helps to recognize our habitual thought patterns.

whether they're positive or negative.  I have a few questions for you as a guide.  How did I feel before the guided practice?  What were my feelings after my first mindfulness practice?  Did I notice any thoughts that appeared during the practice?  Did I notice any sensations in the body?  And how am I feeling right now? 

So what are your next mindfulness steps after your first meditation experience?  Well, mindfulness is like a marathon. You can't put your trainers on and do 26. 2 miles without preparation and months of training.  And mindfulness is exactly the same.  Your intention is to practice daily, if possible, and train your mind to give yourself the spaciousness in the mind of creativity and calm. 

So I recommend to start off sitting  for a minute or two every day and build on that.  We approach every mindfulness practice as a beginner  and little steps always grow to longer journeys.  So I hope you have enjoyed your introduction to mindfulness and you have gained some insight into how it feels to meditate, and how mindfulness practice is your own experience and no one else's. 

There's no judging from anybody else because no one else is able to get into your mind and judge how you are feeling and thinking.  Please listen often to guided meditations and if you find that you're benefiting from them maybe mindfulness journey further.  And I do offer my four week introduction to mindfulness course that runs throughout the year. 

It's a good introduction to mindfulness and gives you the basics on doing your mindfulness meditations to yourself.  I look forward to hearing from you. Shine on my friend, shine on.