Mindfulness
Dr. Jimmy Henderson
Most of us go through life making decisions
based on our past experiences without being really mindful of all the issues
involved. This can lead to the stereotyping of people and situations and us not
always taking the best course of action.
What exactly is MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness
is being fully aware or conscious of what is happening around you and what you
are thinking and doing in the moment,
in the ‘now’. Simply put, you are mindful when you know the thoughts and feelings you are having about a person or
situation and are then able to pause, think and make a more conscious decision.
If it is still not clear, let me describe it
as a blend of pure openness, pure observing, and most importantly, ‘a pure feeling
of self ’ without any real thinking at all.
Let us do a little experiment which
may give you a better idea
A moment of mindfulness
Clap your hands together suddenly, or snap
your fingers
At the same time, shout out ‘I’m alive!’
Now be very quiet for a few seconds and focus
on your feelings
What do you feel? A little shaken, disorientated
or even confused?
What you did was to be briefly, fully mindful
of your experience of ‘being alive’.
The
sudden clap or snap also opened your subconscious mind for one split-second to
allow you to experience this at a very deep level and produce the strange
feelings that you may have had.
Now
imagine a situation in which you are able to create this experience at will,
increase it further, and keep it going for long periods of time.
How
is mindfulness useful?
Mindfulness improves your thinking by giving you
better mental focus and attention to detail. It also improves your intuition by
connecting you with your subconscious mind and you become more aware of the
real issues as well as hidden agendas. This helps with understanding human
behaviour and improves problem-solving. You are able to make more conscious and
rational decisions in your business as well as private lives.
Mindfulness also empowers one with a sense of
well-being and increases moral, human and animal-rights awareness. Mindful
people are less judgemental, more empathetic and compassionate, more aware of
the consequences of their actions, and able to consciously take steps to avoid
hurting others.
It is good for your mental and physical
health, relationships and success in business dealings and essential for
reaching your full mental, emotional and spiritual potential.
In fact, new forms of therapy try to raise
your mindfulness to the point where you can see and deal with past and present issues
holding you back and re-connect with your authentic self, that pure childlike
part of you before it was ‘programmed’ by your past experiences and squashed by
the demands of the world.
Sound good?
How
do I become more mindful?
The problem is that
most of the time our minds are very active, filled with chatter that takes all our
attention and stops us from becoming more mindful and living fully in the
present moment.
If you wish to be more mindful, you have to lessen
this clutter and clamour going on in your minds and shift gears to a more
relaxed state. Brainwave patterns
for normal active minds are about 12-30 cycles per second (cps) (the Beta
state). You will have to learn to lower it to the Alpha state of 8-12
cps second or even further, to the Theta state of 4-7 cps. This slows down your
normal thinking until your brain is just idling or ticking over with no actual
thought, but you are still fully aware of what is happening.
This lowering of your brain activity allows your
subconscious mind to become more dominant and you will feel a greater sense of self
or ‘presence’.
Exercise
Sit
comfortably, close your eyes and consciously begin to relax your body. Move
your focus to your breathing. Allow all thoughts to slowly leave your mind. This
is a process of ‘letting go’ rather than trying to force it to be quiet.
Begin counting in your mind as you
breathe in slowly for a count of 5
Hold your breath for a count of 5
Breathe out slowly for a count of 5
Hold your breath again for a count
of 5
Begin the process again, breathing
in to a count of 5
Do this for about a minute. Your
mind will soon settle down and you should feel more relaxed.
A powerful experience
of mindfulness
Hold your hands in front of your
chest palms facing you, Look down at your hands and move your fingers slowly, repeating
to yourself slowly over and over:
‘I am alive’
‘I am alive’
‘I am alive’
Now stop moving your fingers and turn
your palms towards your chest. Move your focus to the area between your hands
and chest. At this time, change the words to ‘I am’, repeating it slowly and
deliberately over and over again.
You should feel a second shift to an
even deeper level of mindfulness (the ‘I’ consciousness).
Finally, change the words ‘I am’ to
the word, ‘I’ and also repeat this slowly and deliberately a number of times,
still focusing on the area between your hands and your chest.
Breathe deeply and try to be fully
mindful of what it feels to be ‘I’.
Carry on until you take a sudden,
deep spontaneous breath and for one exhilarating
moment become fully mindful of the
fact that you are alive.
Do these exercises from time to time.
They will certainly quieten the frenzied activity of your minds and increase
your mindfulness.
