Everyone is talking about mindfulness as if it is difficult to learn and separate from our daily life. The truth is that developing a practice isn’t complicated. It’s primarily a way of being – of living each moment, more awake.
Mindfulness as a Way of Life written by Oren J. Sofer explains how it’s as easy as deciding to breathe deeply. It’s a dedication to living each moment and noticing details of your world on a regular basis. Plus, it’s about having the courage to venture inside to witness your thoughts, your reactions and the reasoning behind your actions. Speaking and listening with intention and attention is also practicing mindfulness. The truth is that the more you practice, the more it becomes second nature.
According to Sofer, One of the primary aims of our practice is to live with more awareness, choice, and empathy. That means making mindfulness part of the very fabric of our life. Our practice is just that: practice. It is a training that prepares us for the real thing, living life.
He adds, When we spend the majority of our time doing tasks and accomplishing things, that way of relating to experience gets imprinted on our mind. This carries over into our mindfulness practice, where we can end up thinking about mindfulness itself as another thing to “do.” We view it as something with a beginning and an end, that we can get right or wrong, rather than as a process of relaxing, observing, and learning about ourselves and life.
Sofer goes on to explain that paying attention to our breath is one thing but actually feeling our breath is quite the other. When we feel our breath there is an inner relation, an opening of the field of attention, a resting and settling back into receiving experience. And, naturally, over time, the process influences our life – we feel calm yet in tune with our internal and external world.
No time like the present to simply take a deep breath and feel it moving through your body. The more you focus on this constant, the more you are practicing mindfulness. Simple.
