Mindfulness

[Mala09]

I think it was James Thurber who said 'Let us not look back in anger, nor look forward in fear, but let us look around in awareness.'

Now that after 16 months and a very steep learning curve, the seesawing moods have calmed down and the cravings have completely gone, I find it much easier to spend time in meditation. I also practice mindfulness, just paying attention to what is happening here and now rather than daydreaming or rehearsing conversations in my head or thinking about financial worries or relationship niggles.

Little by little I am learning to pay attention. To the sunshine on my face as I sit in the garden drinking a cup of green tea. To the waxwing pecking at nuts near the apple tree. To the food I am eating, the pouring of muesli into a green china bowl, the picking up of a spoon, and the act of chewing. The sound of my own laughter as I talk with a friend on the phone. My step on the stairs, the brightness of a new day as I open the front door.

When I walk into the village I do a strolling meditation, noticing my foot lifting and falling, the movement forward, the breeze coming up off the river. Muscles moving, breath coming and going. The smell of leaf mould under the trees, the slight breathlessness after climbing a rise. Noticing the emotions and reactions that come up in me as I walk, the distractions, the desires and dislikes, the anxieties and memories. Letting thenm fall away, listening to birds in the leafy poplars, the dark rustling foliage of rowan and ash. Breathing in the perfection of this one moment, feeling fully alive. Aware to this reality I share with all of you.

My moods come and go, I notice but let them go without reacting. The river flows past, currents eddying against the rocks and bank. There are dragonflies, glittering, perched on a branch near the bridge. The sun is moving overhead, the clouds are drifting. It is a world in motion and change but deep down right now it is all one. I am bearing witness to my own consciousness, I am present to this deep silent world around and within. Deeper than the restless surface mind there is a gentler and wiser consciousness attuned to the river and trees and sunlight.

Some day there will be only a memory of a woman walking beside a river in a summer morning early in a new century. But right now this walking and breathing and noticing is all there is, there is no need for anything more. The river is shining in the sunlight, there are birds in the woodland trees calling out to one another. It is present and it is passing. It is what it is.

Mindfulness is a transforming practice for me, like moving out of a narrow tunnel of self-consciousness into expanded awareness and a new spacious energy.

I'd love to hear from others who find this practice helpful.

Love & peace

Mala

[Spiritual Seeker]

Beautiful post.
When we are on the right path the universe rises up to meet us, but we must take notice.
Beauty is all around and within in us, but we must take notice.

[Ann]

You have no idea how much your words touched me today. I have just been through a "mindful" experience that I needed to experience, much like pinching myself to see if I am awake, and discovering that I am.

Thank you for words that express what my heart feels today.

Hugs

[Fluttering]

Very inspiring and beautiful Thank You Mala

[indigo]

I can only echo the sentiments of the others and say thank you too.

[stone]

Yes, thankyou Mala.

[1963comet]

Thank's

Reminded me to live in the moment again. A few years back a lady told me about this. It was so peaceful to live in the moment. I tend to live in the past or future.

[citychick]

thanks Mala, for reminding me of the wonder of the moment.

[Mala09]

Thanks for the responses -- I do believe that at the heart of every genuine spiritual practice there is connectedness and that is how we come to open up and grow in to selflessness. So much of my life just vanished, unnoticed and unexperienced, when I was trapped in alcoholism.

Now it is a daily discipline, very gentle and simple, to reconnect and not live in escapist fantasies or daydreams or reliving what has gone before -- just to stay present and receptive to what is happening right now. It works so well in the context of one day at a time.

It has also helped me reconnect to my poor body, battered and damaged by years of drinking. Now I can feel the tiredness and the healing in my body, the pleasure my body takes in sunshine and rest and walking up in the hills. Physical exercise is crucial in recovery and we should talk more about that -- not being frenetic in the gym but getting outdoors, swimming or cycling or walking.

Love & peace to all

Mala

[Rusty Zipper]

mala

So much of my life just vanished, unnoticed and unexperienced, when I was trapped in alcoholism.

ditto to that mala

staying connected with the spirit, and my Powers That Be, are my guiding force in my new rebuilt life today...

blessings

pattee

[ananda]

Mala...thank you for this thread....mindfulness is the full envolvement of life in the moment....I can't write like you can....but I get it. When I am awake in this moment....it is incredibable.

[Nainoa]

Originally Posted by Mala09

I think it was James Thurber who said 'Let us not look back in anger, nor look forward in fear, but let us look around in awareness.'

Now that after 16 months and a very steep learning curve, the seesawing moods have calmed down and the cravings have completely gone, I find it much easier to spend time in meditation. I also practice mindfulness, just paying attention to what is happening here and now rather than daydreaming or rehearsing conversations in my head or thinking about financial worries or relationship niggles.

Little by little I am learning to pay attention. To the sunshine on my face as I sit in the garden drinking a cup of green tea. To the waxwing pecking at nuts near the apple tree. To the food I am eating, the pouring of muesli into a green china bowl, the picking up of a spoon, and the act of chewing. The sound of my own laughter as I talk with a friend on the phone. My step on the stairs, the brightness of a new day as I open the front door.

When I walk into the village I do a strolling meditation, noticing my foot lifting and falling, the movement forward, the breeze coming up off the river. Muscles moving, breath coming and going. The smell of leaf mould under the trees, the slight breathlessness after climbing a rise. Noticing the emotions and reactions that come up in me as I walk, the distractions, the desires and dislikes, the anxieties and memories. Letting thenm fall away, listening to birds in the leafy poplars, the dark rustling foliage of rowan and ash. Breathing in the perfection of this one moment, feeling fully alive. Aware to this reality I share with all of you.

My moods come and go, I notice but let them go without reacting. The river flows past, currents eddying against the rocks and bank. There are dragonflies, glittering, perched on a branch near the bridge. The sun is moving overhead, the clouds are drifting. It is a world in motion and change but deep down right now it is all one. I am bearing witness to my own consciousness, I am present to this deep silent world around and within. Deeper than the restless surface mind there is a gentler and wiser consciousness attuned to the river and trees and sunlight.

Some day there will be only a memory of a woman walking beside a river in a summer morning early in a new century. But right now this walking and breathing and noticing is all there is, there is no need for anything more. The river is shining in the sunlight, there are birds in the woodland trees calling out to one another. It is present and it is passing. It is what it is.

Mindfulness is a transforming practice for me, like moving out of a narrow tunnel of self-consciousness into expanded awareness and a new spacious energy.

I'd love to hear from others who find this practice helpful.

Love & peace

Mala

I feel ya...

I'm an avid outdoorsman. (Now Granted not everyone likes Fishing & Hunting.) But I spend a lot of time doing more than that.

I have many sayings that I live my life by...

3 years ago, while living on the beach for a week while my buddys were up in the full cabin we were staying at...

I woke up one morning, after the night before tempers had run a little high and everyone had been trying to "Talk at" each other instead of "To" or "With" Each other.

I sat there watching the Dawn, and the dragon flies surround me (Which was my morning custom for that week.) And this thought popped into my head that I carry with me today...

"For thousands of years people have been trying to change the world by talking... Yet in the end, everything is pretty much still the same... I wonder why no one has ever tried to change the world by listening?"

And so I spent an entire day... Not talking... Just listening... Both to people, and to the world...

To this day, I sometimes just Stop... And all I do is "Listen."

I find myself always amazed at just how many miraculous messages come flying through the window.