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- Herausgeber: Alan D. Weber (Ph.D.)
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
You have probably heard of the term ‘mindfulness’ a number of times, probably from New Age people, yogis, meditation gurus, and others who are into spiritualism. This is because mindfulness is something that they practice on a daily basis. It is not just a fad that they do but it is an important part of their everyday life
This book contains a detailed discussion about mindfulness and harnessing the power of your mind to overcome stress and anxiety.
In today’s world that we live in, the society glorifies people who have a busy schedule and who always have something planned even on weekends, those days set aside for us to rest and relax after a long day of working. If you have nothing planned, people think you are lazy or not ambitious.
The truth is, there is nothing wrong in slowing down, and just living in the present moment, enjoying every second of it—the sight, sound, smell, and all the other sensations that you are currently feeling. The past is gone so why think about it. The future is yet to come so why worry about it. The preset is here and not. And it is even more important that you make the most out of the present moment by practicing mindfulness. This will book will teach you everything you need to know about mindfulness—how it can help reduce stress and anxiety and how it can make you a better person in general and how it can lead you to a happier and a more fulfilling life.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Alan D. Weber Ph.D.
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Table of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: What Is Mindfulness?
Chapter 2 What Is the Subconscious Mind?
Chapter 3: Meditation and Mindfulness—Similarities, Differences and Relationship between the Two
Chapter 4: Mindfulness Exercises, Techniques, and Activities
Chapter 5: Mindfulness and Dieting
Chapter 6: Meditation—Why You Should Do It and Some Exercises that You Can Try
Chapter 7: Yoga and Mindfulness
Chapter 8: Reducing Anxiety and Stress and Improving Sleep Using Mindfulness and Meditation
Chapter 9: Take Control of Your Thoughts
Chapter 10: Benefits of Mindfulness and Using It to Reach Your Full Potential
Conclusion
Introduction
This book contains a detailed discussion about mindfulness and harnessing the power of your mind to overcome stress and anxiety.
In today’s world that we live in, the society glorifies people who have a busy schedule and who always have something planned even on weekends, those days set aside for us to rest and relax after a long day of working. If you have nothing planned, people think you are lazy or not ambitious.
The truth is, there is nothing wrong in slowing down, and just living in the present moment, enjoying every second of it—the sight, sound, smell, and all the other sensations that you are currently feeling. The past is gone so why think about it. The future is yet to come so why worry about it. The preset is here and not. And it is even more important that you make the most out of the present moment by practicing mindfulness. This will book will teach you everything you need to know about mindfulness—how it can help reduce stress and anxiety and how it can make you a better person in general and how it can lead you to a happier and a more fulfilling life.
Chapter 1: What Is Mindfulness?
You have probably heard of the term ‘mindfulness’ a number of times, probably from New Age people, yogis, meditation gurus, and others who are into spiritualism. This is because mindfulness is something that they practice on a daily basis. It is not just a fad that they do but it is an important part of their everyday life. And you will understand why after reading this chapter.
But do you really know what mindfulness means? There are several definitions associated to this word—some may be familiar to you while others may sound completely new. One thing is for sure, though. Whatever the definition of this term, you cannot deny the fact that it is something that you need to achieve a life free from stress and anxiety.
Mindfulness is being in the present moment
This is the most common definition of mindfulness and this is probably what you already know about the word. In today’s world, people are all too consumed about the future that they spend a lot of time thinking about it. You probably spend a lot of time planning about the future as well—whether it is a few hours or years from now. You have a notebook full of lists of tasks that you need to do and goals that you want to achieve. You create a schedule of activities for the next day, the next week, the next moths, and so on.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking about the future and planning for it. It is, in fact, essential to plan for the future especially if you have small children who rely on you. Planning for the future is also important if you want to have a good life after retirement, when you can no longer work and you do not have a fixed source of income to support your daily needs. Planning for the future is something that every responsible adult should do.
But when does it become a negative thing? It becomes a negative thing when you think about the future too much that it causes you a lot of stress and anxiety. Anything in excess is not good, as you probably already know. You should not stop planning for the future, but you should not let it keep you from enjoying the present moment.
And this is what mindfulness is all about—being in the present moment. One powerful mantra that you should always remember is to not let the future take away your present. Do not let yourself become too preoccupied with the future that you neglect to enjoy the moment you are currently in. You may not notice it but thinking about what will or might happen in the future takes away the precious moments of the present that you should be enjoying.
For example, if you are on a vacation that you are enjoying so much, but then it suddenly crossed your mind that in a few days your vacation is about to end and you will be back to work, you will suddenly feel glum. Instead of completely enjoying your vacation, you feel sad because you thought about the future. You are letting your thoughts about the future steal away your enjoyment and your precious time. Of course, you already know that your vacation will end. You are not going to stay there forever, obviously. And you have to go back to work at a specified date and time. But why do you have to speed up that moment, when you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy every second of your vacation? Just let the time pass naturally.
This kind of thought process prevents you from enjoying the present because you are focused too much on something that will inevitably happen in the near future. And even if you are thinking about something that you like, for example, watching all your favorite TV series when you get back home, it still keeps you from enjoying the present because your mind is somewhere else. If you do this, you will miss out on a lot of things that are happening around you. You are just wasting your time being there and you are not getting the most out of the experience if you cannot be in the present moment.
You can also show non-mindfulness in this scenario. You are about to go on an exciting trip. Or you are anticipating a big event, like a wedding, a birthday party, a date. What do most people do? Think about it and plan for it. If you think about it too much, you are like rushing the time between the present and the trip or the big event. And when the time already comes, it will feel like everything is anticipated and before you know it, the trip of event that you have been waiting and planning for so long is over.
Instead of trying to wish away the time that leads to the main event, just simply relish each and every moment from the time you learned about it until it ends. This way, you get the most out of the experience from start to finish. You get to appreciate the main event even more plus you get greater satisfaction if you focus on the present.
However, you have to remember that your mind will stray whether you like it or not and you will find yourself thinking about the future. This is normal. Some people get frustrated with themselves when they cannot seem to stay in the present moment, when in fact, this is something that most people experience while trying to be mindful. But instead of letting your mind stay in the future, make it return to the present. This is what some people say about mindfulness. The mind cannot really stay in the present completely. What it can do though is to return to the present when you find yourself getting distracted by the worries of the future.
Mindfulness is being aware of the things around you
Simply put, it is about not taking things for granted. Oftentimes, you live your life on autopilot. You do not pay attention to the things that have always been there. And because of this, you miss a lot of wonderful things in life, albeit small and simple.
For example, you wake up every day at the same hour, take a shower, eat breakfast, and leave for work. That is how your normal morning routine looks like. But have you ever stopped even for just a few seconds to listen to the chirping of the birds living on the tree by your bedroom? Or feel the warmth of the sun on your face when you go out the door? Or see the lush green trees that line your street? Have you ever stopped and appreciate all these things? You probably have not noticed or maybe you do, but you simply take them for granted because these things have always been there. You know that there are birds and flowers outside and you know that it’s sunny but beyond that, you do not know anything more about the beauty that surrounds you. By not being aware of these things and taking the time to appreciate them, you are missing a lot on the beauty of where you live.
And what could be the reason why you are not aware of this beauty? The main reason is that your mind is somewhere else. It is probably wandering somewhere in the future, thinking about the presentation that you need to do in a few hours. Or it could be somewhere in the past, replaying a conversation that you have had with your spouse and analyzing each and every word that was said that led to the fight. There are so many things that can distract you from the present and what makes it worse is that you are not aware that this is already happening unless it is pointed out to you.
Imagine when you are talking to someone you like, a long-time crush, maybe. While you are talking to your crush, you find yourself ultra-aware of your every word and action. This is kind of like how mindfulness works. Every move you make is deliberate and you are conscious of what is going on.
Take a simple daily task for example, such as preparing coffee. Instead of doing it automatically without really thinking about it, pay attention to the tiny things, such as the color, the aroma, and the taste. Be like a critic who needs to review the coffee. You may feel silly doing it at first but you will soon enjoy and appreciate things more because you know more about them.
Never take things for granted. Always be aware of the things around you. Who knows, you might discover something new and different that has always been there in your life.
Being aware also sparks curiosity, another facet of the complex term ‘mindfulness’. If you are aware of the things around you, you become more curious. Ever wonder why children are more curious than adults? This is because they are more mindful. They do not have worries in their minds and they can easily focus their attention on what’s in front of them. For example, if a child sees a sparkly object on the ground, he will pick it up and put it in his pocket. He will inspect it and put it in his collection of odd things that he found while walking to and from school. On the other hand, when an adult sees a sparkly object on the ground, he will dismiss it as a piece of trash or a shard of glass and will just forget about it. Now this does not mean that you go picking sparkly objects from the ground whenever you see one. This just means that you should learn a thing or two from a child who notices even the smallest thing around him that brings him joy.
Mindfulness is slowing down
Today’s culture values busyness and hectic schedules. Some think that people who do not have a full calendar are either lazy or not ambitious. However, this kind of culture can be toxic because it can get too overwhelming. Just look at the children whose parents encourage them to participate in a lot of school activities. They have to learn how to a musical instrument, play at least one sport, learn a new language, and so many other activities that they miss doing the most important thing that they should be doing at this point in their lives—and that is to become a child.
As an adult, you also tend to over-schedule yourself because you think other people will judge you if you do not have a lot of activities planned for the whole week. But the truth is this only makes you feel stressed and anxious because doing all these activities can be tiring and overwhelming. What you need to do is to just slow down, and just let yourself be. Instead of filling your schedule with lots of activities, why not be mindful and appreciate simply being alive?
At work, when you find yourself being overwhelmed by all the tasks that you need to accomplish, just simply take a break and just let yourself go. Be mindful of what you are currently feeling and free your mind from everything that’s stressing you out. If it is your lunch time, for instance, and you still have a lot of things to finish, you should still go to lunch and enjoy your food instead of skipping lunch ad finishing your work. Once you change how you do things to this, you will find yourself with inner peace that will help you put things in perspective, and in turn can help you tackle tasks a lot more easily.
Some other examples of time wasters at work are pretending to work to look busy, too much multi-tasking, paying attention to office gossip and politics, and working during break time. You should avoid doing these things and instead learn how to slow down. This will help you accomplish more at work because your mind is free from clutter, so to speak.
Mindfulness with yourself
Being mindful to oneself means being aware of your thoughts, actions, and emotions. This could lead to a lot of positive things in life such as gratitude, better health, success, and overall life improvement.
When you wake up first thing in the morning, instead of getting up right away and going to the bathroom to take a shower, you should take a minute or two to be mindful of your body. Pay attention to how well you slept and how your body feels. If you get enough sleep, your body will be in the best possible condition. This will make you feel grateful that you have a healthy body and will also make you decide to get enough sleep every day because of how good it makes you feel.
And all throughout the day, you notice that you have more energy because your body is well-rested, which means that you are able to finish a lot more tasks. You are productive and you are in a good mood and you understand why—because you slept well the night before. And you know this fact because you pay attention, because you are being mindful. This can later on turn into a good habit.
Mindfulness with others
Being mindful with other people means you pay attention to them and you are more thoughtful instead of reactive when it comes to communicating with them. When someone is talking to you, do you take the time to notice his mood? If you are being mindful, you will notice a difference in the way a person talks, or a difference in his body gestures. This can help you communicate better with the person.
If the tone of voice and gesture suggest that the person is in a foul mood, you might want to tone down your jokes and pranks and maybe do them some other day. If you notice that your boss is in a good mood, maybe you can go ahead and ask for the long overdue raise. By simply being mindful, you can learn a lot about people that can help you communicate with them a lot more effectively.
