What Mindfulness Means to Me:
When I first began my Journey learning about the Habits of Ayurveda in 2013, I started looking closely at my own thoughts and energy. Surprisingly, what I found was that I was always in a stress response with anxiety and overwhelm. Even so, I don’t think it was obvious from the outside.
Thinking about the future and my to do list was just where my mind went. I always felt behind, hurried, and really like I was never doing enough. This did come to a shock to me as I was a yogi and had done a lot of work on me. Se la vi, the first recognition is heartbreaking and eye opening.
Undoubtedly, I realized this wasn’t working for me, when I found myself rushing my 1 year old off the grass to do some other thing. And for what purpose? Because I was anxious and wanted to move.
Slowly, I began to shift my mind one thought at a time to the present moment. I paid attention to my limiting beliefs, where they came from, and how they had served me. Then I chose better thoughts and repeated them until they became something that uplifted me instead of holding me back.
For example, I stopped my old pattern of repetitive thoughts and brought in the mantra, “Greatest Love.”. I would say “Greatest” on the inhale, and “Love” on the exhale. With persistence, over time, I had a new pattern, felt more relaxed, more in control, and abundantly creative.
So Mindfulness to me is when I am aware of my own mind, thoughts, emotions, energy, and patterns. Similarly, when I can recognize, feel, listen, analyze, understand, and learn from my emotions, then I can expand and grow. I can respond instead of reacting with defensiveness as was my habit. I noticed my addiction to Drama, and became essentially more accountable.
In addition, listening to my body has been a huge part of me becoming more mindful. Certainly, this helped me avoid the injury cycle that I was creating.
I practice Mindfulness when I first wake up to direct my thoughts and energy in a powerful way. Sometimes toward gratitude, other days toward recognizing and feeling deep connection with all human beings and living creatures, to feel a sense of oneness with all.
My top 8 Mindfulness Practices:
- Better Posture – noticing how I stand, sit, and walk
- Cultivating gratitude while doing dishes
- Enjoying silence and observing myself while driving
- Showering with song, joy, and presence
- Singing while cleaning
- Listening more deeply to loved ones
- Catching a stress response and shifting out of it
- Intention setting – I practice my power to create with intentions
So I am curious, how about you? How have you become more mindful over time?
