Mindfulness

Today I am grateful for healing and that I can return to some of my core strengthening exercises. I am also grateful for the wisdom and humanness of the people I share the planet with.

Today's word is mindfulness: staying present, being aware of the current moment. It is something I work at and I can honestly say I am making progress. (I also know and accept that it will always be about ongoing progress and practice. I will never get a degree in mindfulness.) My thought processes used to be one of two places-thinking about/regretting/critiquing what had already happened or pondering/worrying/building fear about what could happen. Not much mindfulness there.

I also used to set my goals too high when it comes to mindfulness. I still can't sit for 20 minutes and do nothing but let my thoughts clear and bounce around aimlessly. I am not good at meditation in that respect. But I can pause for moments and pay attention better to the present than I used to. Pay attention to my breathing. To the sounds I hear. To what I am grateful for at this exact time. All of those allow me to slow down and embrace the here and now. Even if I can do that a handful of times a day, I am doing well and I am giving this overactive brain some rest so it can do better work.

Gratitude practice has been one of the best tools I have used to help me improve in the area of mindfulness. They go hand in hand.

I will mindfully add to my gratitude list today.

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