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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 15:47 |
| | Janese Johnson |
Many of us are bustling about in life going from one activity to the next.
Our minds are busy with what has already happened or what is about to happen, but we are rarely in the present moment.
When we are running something over and over again, it is similar to a gerbil running on a wheel, going nowhere in circles.
We think about something over and over again, reviewing it in different angles without acheiving any peace of mind.
Another
state of thinking that we often find ourselves in is the ping-pong
modality.Our minds go from one subject to another ó and bouncing back
and forth without any resolution.
Only
occasionally are we are totally focused on something of great
importance or thoroughly enjoying the moment as if nothing else
mattered. This is mindfulness. Most people go back and forth between
the first two modes of thinking, and only every so often engage in
mindfulness.
It is rare that
we are in the moment, concentrating on the task at hand, with nothing
else going through our minds. Many of us have to go through great
efforts to discipline our minds to stay in the moment due to the
business of our schedules. When our minds are gerbil-wheeling or
ping-ponging, our bodies and minds experience that continuous activity
as stressful, which affects us in more profound ways than we realize.
In 2004, the
Harvard Womenís Health Watch reported that learning to focus your mind
can help you manage the stresses of everyday living. The article
suggested the importance of putting our attention on our breath.
A few conscious
deep breaths every morning and throughout the day can bring your
awareness to the center of your attention. The article highly
recommended meditation as another way to achieve longer periods of
mindfulness.
The University
of Wales has a successful research center on mindfulness called The
Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice. Their goal is ìto
alleviate the effects of ill health and encourage physical and mental
well-being.î
The Centre has
found great success in all areas of a personís life when they can focus
on the moment and experience life without judgment or without
preconceived ideas about how things are suppose to be. That intentional
focus seems to help a person relax in their mind and their body. That
relaxation frees the body and mind of unnecessary stress, which often
causes mental and/or physical health problems.
Thich Nhat Hanh
is a popular Buddhist who has authored many books on mindfulness. He
not only promotes mindfulness but also the importance of smiling. He
says, ìSmiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the
world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration
against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our
capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make
peaceî. This peace that Thich nhat Hanh talks about can also be a peace
that we feel within our own self.
The more that we
become aware of our distracted or obsessive thoughts, the more we can
rein our mind in, and bring ourselves back into focus. Our minds can be
likened to a wild horse. The horse is running around having ìfunî, and
doesnít necessarily want to be reined in and trained. But the wild
horse is also causing stress to others and to itself without realizing
it. When the wild horse gets reined in through constant training and
focus, it then realizes the benefits that it gets at having done that,
and also the benefits of those around.
If we would only
give mindfulness and smiling a chance, than and only then could we
really know and feel the great benefits from taking the time and effort
to break out of a stressful way of thinking. After all we have nothing
to loose, in fact we have much to gain. we can than truly know the
benefits that are reaped from such training.
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