Nowadays everyone is speaking of mindfulness. What is mindfulness? It is one of those sorely overused words at this moment, but its overuse stems from a need people are feeling on the planet right now. The very word mindfulness speaks of a longing people have in this frenetic time. Mindfulness speaks of slowing down, being present, being in and accepting the moment for what it is, not what it is desired to be.
This time we are in, with the looming environmental chaos, the continual in-flux of information through our many, many devices, the never-ending work day created by the very same devices that were meant to liberate us, the intensifying disharmony between people, all merge together in each of us individually and we live a life of overwhelm and exhaustion.
Many desire, ache for a different way. People hear the word mindfulness and it conjures images of peace, of slowing down, of space within and quiet in our lives. And mindfulness practices have the capacity to lead one to greater access to these things, but how? How do you define mindfulness? What are the benefits of mindfulness? What is mindfulness practice?
Most of the time as we move about the world we are mindless. Seemingly asleep in many ways. We are driving the car and thinking about a fight we were in. We are in a conversation and thinking about the test we have coming up next week. We are doing one thing and thinking about any number of other things. Though our body is acting and moving in this moment our mind is in another moment. We are here in body but not in mind. We are not present to what is actually happening right now, as if we were in a dream with every possible random weird thing potentially appearing at any moment.
This is the norm for most people. It is how we were brought up and it is the cause of so much of the overwhelm and exhaustion. Rather than being in the moment, which may be pleasant or unpleasant, we are in several moments simultaneously. As we live now we have the moment we are in, partially experienced and every other past or future possible moment floating through our minds uncontrolled. So in every moment we are carrying and experiencing every possible moment of past history, future possibility/fantasy. No wonder it’s overwhelming and exhausting.
The moment, any moment, lived in fully, will be experienced for what it is and we will move on to the next moment. Mindfulness is about coming back home. Home is within. Carrying and worrying about everything that needs to be done in your life and for the life of the planet, in every moment does not help at all. We must come back home to the moment. Mindfulness is about just that. Coming back to what is happening right now. Coming back to what the experience and feeling is right now. Nothing else exists. All the rest is commentary and story in your head. To have a quieter life, to have a mindful life, one has to learn and practice ways of coming back over and over to what is, not what is wished or worried.
To learn how to practice mindfulness in daily life, it is helpful to have a guide, teacher, therapist, or counselor to support your path. Within the context of his 1-1 guidance sessions, Aaron Cohen offers guidance in mindfulness techniques in Flagstaff, AZ to help you return to the moment, again and again.