24 STRATEGIES FOR PEACE ADVENT CALENDAR DAY 13: M - MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is often interpreted as a type of mediation which involves breathing methods and guided imagery or twisting our body in contorted positions for the purpose of relaxation and stress reduction. You are supposed to sit in a straight-backed chair or cross-legged on the floor or a cushion for a set amount of time and then get back into your life causing mischief in the world. 

You practice like this for 10 years or so and still feel miserable and then you ask yourself: what’s wrong with my mindfulness practice? 

While undoubtedly there are benefits of a regular relaxation habit via sitting in a peaceful spot, mindfulness practice can be so much more than that. 

In its broader sense mindfulness is a whole life process of systematically observing, understanding and accepting all levels of our being (mind-body-soul) such that we may coordinate and integrate those aspects of ourselves, and dwell in the direct experience of the center of consciousness (bliss, peace, Universal Mind, God, True Self).

In thus expanded approach to mindfulness we work in 4 dimensions:

1. Internal or relating to self - understanding the value we place on ourselves which determines the level of confidence we have to fully express ourselves to the world. It impacts every single decision we make in our life. 
2. Relational or relating to others - understanding how open we are to accepting other people without judgement which greatly impacts the quality of our relationships. 
3. Developmental or relating to our past - understanding how our past affects how we think, feel and behave today and will keep affecting our future as long as we do not become aware of this connection (our conditioning)
4. Environmental or relating to the external world - understanding how we allow factors beyond our control (people, events, media etc) influence our state of mind and our feelings thus learning to reduce stress through the attitude: not my circus, not my monkeys. 

Practicing mindfulness is about becoming The Witness or The Observer of each of the above dimensions. Moment by moment we become aware of our thoughts and our feelings without judging them to be right or wrong. 

According to Jiddu Krishnamurti who was one the great masters of mindfulness the ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence. This is because when we evaluate we use the screens of our conditioning. We apply meanings we learned in the past to our present experience which may not be accurate or downright wrong. Thus we risk polluting the observable object (ourselves or other people) with our judgement, prejudice and bias. 

We can gain complete understanding about ourselves, others, our past and our environment when we observe without judgment but with the curiosity of a little child. Through the power of our total attention we notice things we have not noticed before. We unlock our imagination and our creativity. We become Seers. 

We observe life as it is happening in front of us. We observe feelings as they move inside of us. We observe objects in the room. We observe strangers on the street and we observe familiar people as if we saw them for the very first time. Before we labelled them with our meanings. 

Mindfulness opens up our mind to a new world. A world where things and people release their true essence. 

We can practice mindfulness everywhere we are. In the middle of a busy street. We do not need a special place for that. We do not need a mat or a meditation seat. Our peace and silence is created not through the absence of noise but through the absence of judgment. 

Practice mindfulness to deal with difficult emotions using the RAIN technique

Step 1: R - recognize the emotion you are feeling and name it with ONE word

Step 2: A - accept the emotion without judgment, it is right here right now. Feel it. It cannot hurt you. I will not kill you. Stay with it for 15 seconds. Observe.  

Step 3 I - investigate, become curious about your experience, what triggered your emotion,  where is it in your body, what shape, color, consistency, size, scent, sound it has  

Step 4  N - non-identification - you are not your emotion. See the emotion for what it is: a vibration, an energy in motion, passing through you. Instead of “I am angry” dissociate yourself and say “I am watching anger” knowing that it is always a fleeting experience. Dissociating from your emotion gives you authority over it.  You can decide if you want to retain it or perhaps breathe through it and breathe it out. Watch it shrinking, shrivelling. 

IMPORTANT: always maintain an attitude of kindness, compassion, friendliness and gentleness towards yourSelf and others. Those attitudes create a safe zone for our mindfulness practice. 

You can use the RAIN technique to investigate all 4 dimensions of mindfulness.

Repeat the above formula every day and notice how your inner peace expands. 

Visit Butterfly11 Movement to explore other strategies that will improve your mental and emotional wellbeing. Peace to us all!

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