Mindfulness & Meditation

Modern day life demands are relentless, expecting that we move faster and faster, doing more, acquiring more, and we often feel swamped and overwhelmed by the constant tirade of to do’s that pile up even as we get through one list. What is this incessant obsession we have?

We are human beings, not human doings.

Becoming Mindful

Humans brains are the most sophisticated machine on earth, and yet, are still full of

mystery to science. The brain is wired to constantly input stimuli and process a never

ending stream of signals, assessing risks through thoughts, but most of our thoughts

are concerned with the past, or the future. Meditation is the pathway to find yourself

in present moment awareness, loosening the pull factor into future worries or

past grievances.

How often are you lost in thoughts, ruminating and replaying some old memory? Or worrying about some future event, coming up with a million different what if scenarios? (Most of which are unlikely to play out.)

Would you believe me if I told you there was a way to shift the ever thinking mind state into one of peace, balance and even serenity? Mindfulness literally transformed my relationship with life and everything within it, so much so it inspired(translated as “in spirit”) me to become a teacher to share with others .

Meditation is an ancient Eastern practice of inward contemplation, of dropping focus into the “now”, as life unfolds, moment by moment. This focused state allows you to rest within yourself, while remaining awake and alert, tuning into your senses, breath, thoughts and emotions. It invites us to slow down, get curious and pay attention to lifes small details that we mindlessly take for grant while on the mission to get more done.
The rest state is an innate and important human quality, allowing us to heal, energise and transform our life experiences into true wisdom.

This mental discipline has many benefits, techniques that start on the mat that can be integrated into our lives, offering us an opportunity to change our relationship with life itself, a loving, compassionate and abundant perspective.

Compassion is our deepest nature. It arises from our interconnection with all things

Jack Kornfield - The Wise Heart

Meditation vs Mindfulness

Meditation usually follows a formal practice, using concentrative techniques for a specific duration with a chosen intention - to improve concentration, relax, gain insight through to spiritual awakening. In some sense, this part of the library has a motive, a desire to change something.

Mindfulness on the other hand, a subset of the vast library of less formal techniques, invites us to cultivate the ability to be open and welcoming to all things as they unfold in present moment awareness. This liberating freedom takes us away from suffering, which is a natural human condition that tries to fight what simply is. As I continued to find a better way to deal with the chaos of busy family life, I was naturally drawn to to Mindfulness, resonating with the inner knowing that there is a more awakened way to live life, and so began my Buddhist nature journey.

Mindfulness & Buddhism

The art of Mindfulness came only recently to the West (1960’s read more about its history here), its foundations lay firmly seeded in 2500 year old Buddhist traditions. Ancient Buddhist teachings have been orally passed down through generations of monks, and follows a very unique philosophy - more experiential teachings and practices, invite each individual to contemplate and decipher their meaning and application, rather than dogmatically forcing specific instructions.

Starting with the four noble truths, which then expand to the practice to the eight fold path, or to the principles of Buddhist psychology: there are countless translations and transcribes that invite us to question our perspective on life and what is truly, universally important.

There is so much to explore here, please follow me on IG, FB or read my blog to go deeper into the lessons asked of all beings.

teddy-wijaya-r3PEdo0YVUA-unsplash_edited

Buddhist teachings are not a religion, they are a science of the mind.

Dalai Lama

Techniques

Over the centuries, localised techniques have formed to adopt to cultural and geographical practicality, however, all techniques can be divided into 3 categories:

Concentrative - where we focus attention on a single point such as an image, sound, breath or mantra.
Attentive - demands an open mind that allows whatever arises to unfold, as a silent, compassionate witness.
Intentionality - a combination of both above, there is a specific goal that answers the question: what do i need most right now? To guide us to work on the parts of ourselves needing the most loving curiosity and support.

For some, sitting still on a mat can be very challenging and confronting, there are many alternatives that still offer benefits such as:

Mindful walking - in nature

Benefits

There are countless reasons meditation can improve our state of wellbeing, here are just a handful of the most common:

Decreasing negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety.
Improve attention and memory
Improve our immune system health
Increase blood flow, decrease heart rate
Better quality of sleep
Reduce “monkey mind” - being at the constant mercy of our thoughts and their habitual patterns
Relief from pain and addictive behaviours
Increase qualities we all desire:
- Patience
- Acceptance
- Empathy
- Emotional regulation
- Mental clarity
- Calm, grounded, centered

Soulful Being is deeply passionate about the power of Meditation and Mindfulness, and as such, offers its gifts through many service offerings - classes, workshops, 1:1 coaching, as it can apply to all aspects of life and help us not to just survive what comes our way on our life path, but to thrive in the face of it all.

Classes