In Search of Mindfulness
This week I’ve found myself wondering about mindfulness, finding mindfulness, and what does that all mean?
Mindfulness, seriously, it’s a buzzword and there’s a whole industry around it - heck, I think I’m probably venturing into it. But what does it really mean? Apparently everyone’s doing it. To me the messaging seems to be that meditation is magical mindfulness. Just start meditating. Build the meditation muscle through practice and mindfulness awaits.
Well guess what, I don’t meditate and I still consider myself mindful and building more mindfulness into my every day. I’m not against meditation, I’m all for it, I just haven’t found a way to bring it in my everyday that feels natural and like I want to be doing it. The key being that I want to be doing it, not shamed into doing it because everyone says I should.
I want mindfulness to be quick, easy, and simple. Not quick like a silver bullet quick, but rather something approachable. Something in the moment that triggers the brain towards calm, joy, and positive associations and with practice builds the same pathways and rewires your brain as meditation.
I felt validated (well, my ego did perhaps) when twice this week I heard and read things that expanded or perhaps it actually simplified the definition of mindfulness. At its essence mindfulness, according to Psychology Today, is an active and open attention to the present. To me it’s purposeful attention. As Rick Hanson describes it in Buddha’s Brain ‘Being mindful simply means having good control over your attention: you can place your attention wherever you want and it stays there; when you want to shift it to something else, you can.’
The main conduit that people are using for this is meditation. Yet it’s not limited to meditation.
The small practice of monetarily taking pause to quiet your mind, to gain control of where it’s wandering, to direct the focus somewhere, that’s mindfulness. Taking notice of your environment, inhaling over your cup of tea or coffee, turning away from your computer or phone screen for a few seconds, this is all mindfulness. This is my kind of mindfulness and mindful moments. Approachable awareness that’s powerful.
These small moments, with practice, strengthen and become second nature. The key is consciously noticing them and not just letting life zoom by. This is The Linger Movement. It’s transforming the way you experience everyday moments. It’s bringing presence and awareness to the small things, to Linger Awhile. Not just when it’s ‘big’ or on the agenda but anytime. It’s a lifestyle.
I find that I have numerous activities I do in my everyday, or nearly everyday, life that are incredibly ‘meditative’ and mindful. Running is one of them, especially now that I do a lot of trail running. I find my best ideas and insights come while running, when I’m just putting one foot in front of the other, soaking in the smells, and breathing deeply. I also find it in watching sunsets, stirring a pot on the stove, standing under the shower. Numerous tiny moments that allow me to more deeply connect and find more presence both internally and externally.
Mindfulness is about presence and bringing pause into everyday moments. It’s building stronger and deeper neural pathways so we remember the feeling of the breath, the expansion, and the joy rather than defaulting to the tightening and constriction that comes with the negative associations that our minds love to hang on to.
What does mindfulness look like for you?
What things do you do that bring a little mindfulness and linger moments into your day?
As the year comes to an end and we head into the holidays and last weeks of 2019 I’m kicking off Twelve Days of Lingering. Each day a different thought, idea, prompt to Linger in. Just something to practice, to be curious about, to try on.
Follow along on Instagram if you’re not already and share how you #lingerawhile.
xoxo
jessie
Pause : Breathe : Savor the Moment