The Value and Purpose of Mindfulness

Now that I posted these two mindfulness sites, I might as well add my own two cents! I believe that mindfulness is good for pretty much all of us. I do not believe that everyone needs to meditate, but I think it is possible that we all would be freer, happier and more comfortable in our lives by developing the ability to get mindful. Mindfulness is about tolerance, increasing our ability to tolerate different states without having to run from them. States like anxiousness, sadness, confusion, joy. (Joy? Am I saying that it can be hard to tolerate joy? Yes, I am!) And we know what I mean about running from them, these states, these feelings. Getting busy, turning on the computer/tv/phone, using food, drink, or other substances to alter our state, even talking can be a way to run from or avoid uncomfortable feelings. So mindfulness in a very simple way can help us have less need to run, it can really help us be more comfortable in our own skins!

I find myself saying the following to clients frequently, if we fight (resist, run from, avoid, argue with or try to ignore) almost any emotion, we usually lose. It works for the short term, but  usually that feeling comes back and sometimes with a vengeance! It seems that fighting what is, makes what is, stronger. I want to be clear, I am not suggesting that we need to or should be mindful all the time. We have rhythms. There are times to be mindful, times to be dreamy, times to be busy and more. I am advocating for increasing our bouts of mindfulness. For a bit more, or longer or more frequent forays into this present moment, slowing down and checking in with ourselves. For more moments of noticing exactly where we are, what we are thinking, feeling, doing. and then accepting what is. The benefits can be subtle but are surely freeing.

I would love to hear about your experiments or experiences with mindfulness.