Mindfulness, a thought…
By Jerry Kelly www.firsthrd.ie
Are you one of the millions who travel through life with a noisy mind, disconnected from yourself, others and the world around you? Sleepwalking through the jungle of everyday life?
We all seem to be busy these days – “busyness” is like a badge of honour. Day after day we hand over to our mindless habits, routines, beliefs, opinions, etc; spending less and less time connected to the present. We operate on a daily basis from only 5% of our conscious mind. The other 95% of the time, we’re mindlessly moving through our days responding to situations based on sub-conscious or unconscious patterns and belief systems.
How many times have you driven home, turned in the gate and all of a sudden realise you’re home already? Where have you been during the journey? Most likely you travelled in a space of unconscious attention and fractured concentration.
In 1970 Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock in which he described future shock as, “the dizzying disorientation brought on by the premature arrival of the future. It may well be the most important disease of tomorrow”.
Are we now travelling in shock almost 45 years later? Is it all moving too fast and we need to disconnect in order to survive? It is often cited that more information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000.
We need to find a way to slow down and “switch on” to the present. Cue Mindfulness!
If you are worried about your flittering attention and flagging concentration, then STOP and check out what the Buddhists have known for over 2,500 years. By simply observing your mind at work in this present moment without attachment to your thoughts, looking at the past or predicting the future, attempting to do or confirm anything, you quieten the noisy mind. Simply be aware of “what is” and observe.
Bring your attention to your breathing and just observe. It’s as simple as that.
“Knowing what you are doing while you are doing it, is the essence of mindful practice”, says Jon Kabat-Zinn, and of course mindlessness is doing same thing over and over expecting different results.
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