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Everyone's new favorite buzzword.
Alright homies...
I call myself Soul_Surgeon on instagram ... so0o0o0o that right there is evidence enough.
As I was saying, the concept of mindfulness was something I wanted to investigate. Luckily enough I have a great friend who knows me well and gifted me the book Thrive: The third metric to redefining success and creating a life of Well-being, Wisdom, and Wonder by Arianna Huffington. While reading, I came across an attention grabbing sub-chapter called, "Meditation: It's Not Just for Enlightenment Anymore" where Arianna quotes Jon Kabat-Zinn the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine. He says:
" In Asian cultures the word for 'mind' and the word for 'heart' are the same word. So when we hear the word 'mindfulness' we have to inwardly also hear the word 'heartfulness' in order to grasp it even as a concept. and especially as a way of being " (39)."
When I learn something new I try to connect it to something I already know, and when I read this quote as I was trying to understand mindfulness, my mind connected it to the word thoughtfulness.
The word "thoughtful" connects to the mind, because thought signifies cognitive function, but the word really caters to feelings and emotions. The adjective "thoughtful" is used to describe someone who shows that they care for others/ their surroundings through their actions. Being mindful and being thoughtful are two very similar things. If you can be thoughtful, you can be mindful.
If "thoughtfulness" and "awareness" had a love child it would be "mindfulness".
#CutestBabyEver
How to avoid the mindFULL trap.
Mindfull ≠ Mindful
Thinking about the past?
This includes past relationships, missed opportunities, regrets, reliving good memories because you're bored of the current state of your life or scared to move on.
Worrying about the future?
Not knowing what you're supposed to do with your life, worrying about an upcoming work meeting, creating horrid stories of what could happen if you (insert: a choice).
How it all makes you Mind-full & not Mindful.
You're thoughts are inundated with irrelevant possibilities or old memories that are causing stress on your mind, which then effects your body and overall health. When you don't feel well, it is really difficult to think about anything outside yourself and your discomfort/pain. It becomes a vicious cycle.
Do it differently.
It is important and fulfilling to reflect on your past, or to plan for the future because through both you can heal yourself and create yourself. When we are spending too much time in either space, you loose touch with reality, and you can't fully engage with your surroundings and "live in the now". You end up missing the good stuff.
Give a shit.
Let me elaborate - Mindfulness to me, means being conscious enough to care about the people around you and the world you are living in that you are consciously or blindly contributing to. This means being less "SELF-conscious": thinking about your own problems, worrying about what others think of you, acting and thinking defensively. And being more "COMMUNITY/WORLD-conscious" : considering what your peers are feeling/going through, thinking about how you can create positive change in your community/neighborhood/household, creating meaningful bonds and relationships.
Let me elaborate - Mindfulness to me, means being conscious enough to care about the people around you and the world you are living in that you are consciously or blindly contributing to. This means being less "SELF-conscious": thinking about your own problems, worrying about what others think of you, acting and thinking defensively. And being more "COMMUNITY/WORLD-conscious" : considering what your peers are feeling/going through, thinking about how you can create positive change in your community/neighborhood/household, creating meaningful bonds and relationships.
MORE TO COME!
This was just a short and broad intro to mindfulness, this is an important topic to me and it should be to all of you. I hope that this is a topic you all want to explore with me :). There will be more blogs that get into deeper detail and touch different subjects within mindfulness like:
Sleep
Meditation
Movement
etc.
Love,
Liv
Thrive by Arianna Huffington
The History of Mindfulness by Bhikkhu Sujato
Reboot or Die Trying by David Roberts
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