Mindfulness Practice
I was recently hiking on vacation in Alaska.? We hiked is several settings including beautiful forest trails, glaciers trails, and mountain views.? The fall colors were beautiful.? The awesome scenery made it very easy to stay in mindful mode.? The challenge of some trails made it easy to focus attention (or risk falling).? I think we have all had the experience of having mindful moments that are dictated by circumstance.? This happens when the energy of the situation is sufficient to automatically capture our attention.? An awesome nature scene, something unexpected, or something extremely pleasant.? When faced with such a situation, we mentally shift from “analytical mode” where we are problem-solving and trouble-shooting to “mindful mode” where we are fully engaged in the present moment without thinking too much.?
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This can happen naturally when conditions are favorable.? What we rarely realize is that we can learn to shift into this mode voluntarily when the situation is more ordinary.? Are we fully present when eating our lunch, or when a child needs attention, or when our spouse is speaking.? Did you ever snarf up a hamburger and have little memory of the experience?? Being able to shift modes when it is useful to do so is a skill that can be developed.? Like any other skill, it takes practice, but we get good at what we practice.? Practice being distracted, grumpy, and preoccupied – you will get good at that.? Practice being mindful. You’ll get good at that too.?
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A formal way to practice being mindful is to practice mindfulness-based meditation. ?Variations have been around for thousands of years, but have been studied scientifically a lot over the last few years.? We now better understand why these practices seem to have a overall benefit for physical and mental health.? There are many good resources available to learn how.? It’s not hard.? There are apps for guided meditation and entire books on the subject.? If you’d like a beginning introduction to meditation, click the link below for a free PDF on basic practice.? (Don’t confuse basic with not useful.? You don’t have to get fancy to have a substantial benefit).
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