Mindfulness

Many people spend a great deal of their time ruminating about things that concern them in their lives, either in the past or the possible outcome of a potentially negative future or event. These thoughts usually come with an emotional charge or feeling that is felt in the body. This sometimes heavy or unpleasant feeling to some is felt as Sadness, anxiousness, depression, anger or frustration. Generally we could say that these emotions are producing suffering.

Interestingly, when we are totally present as a felt experience of being here and now , in this moment, the mind must stop its ruminating to allow awareness to feel into what’s actually occurring in this moment, either externally, (what is around us), or internally (what we feel within the body), the emphasis being feeling not analysing.

This process shows clearly that we cannot do both at the same time. The more we think the less we feel or experience, the more we feel the less we think. The thinking we are talking about is the unnecessary thinking we call worrying.

The term “mindfulness is a translation of the Pali term sati which is a very significant element in Buddhist tradition. Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment. The outcome of this is that we spend considerably less time in this suffering state, which in turn gives the body an opportunity to relax both physically and mentally and allows our natural state to come back as the dominant state that is our true nature. That is peace and happiness.