In 2013, after a stress crisis, I decided to take yoga classes, in fact I enrolled in the Training and Self-Knowledge and Yoga course and this was, without a doubt, one of the best decisions I had that year. It was the beginning of my journey to self-knowledge, then I decided to dive even more, I went to do other training over the years, from Ayurvedic Massage, through Practitioner in NLP, Non-Violent Communication (NVC), Reiki…
Earlier this year, through an exchange of services, I was able to participate in a class of the Mindfulness course. I had heard about the subject in previous years, but it had not caught my attention. I believe that I didn't give so much attention to the matter before, because it was not the “right time”. I was going through and going through some internal processes and Mindfulness came along this year, at the right time, at the right time. And it was another step taken on the path of my personal transformation journey.
Some practices are very simple, even easy, however, depending on how we are feeling (emotionally, mentally and physically) at the time of the practice, we may find them challenging. I realize that when we cut down on “mental chatter” and connect to what is happening in the present moment, undistracted, focused on what is happening in the “here and now”, moment by moment, consciously observing every breath, every action, every thought that comes and goes, without creating our mental stories and without repeating the “story we tell ourselves”, we become “Ok” with what happens in the present moment, because we become more attentive beings.
When we start to observe the path we make daily to our work, school and home, observing the people who cross our path, the cars next to us, the colors and smells, attentively, present to what happens moment by moment , our life takes on a new meaning.
When we start to appreciate the food that we are going to digest with full attention, the flavor changes, it sharpens the senses, because when we slow down, slow down, smell, look with “curious eyes” at shapes, colors, feel the texture, tasting each bite, each forkful and each sip, we realize that the food that nourishes us is wonderful.
When we start to listen to what the other says about any topic, in a conversation, in a dialogue, in an open and attentive way, being totally present to what is being said, without that old habit or that old habit of mentally creating a response to what is being said, what is being said, when we really listen without judgment, without criticism, just opening ourselves to what the other says to us, the experience is totally connective and transmuting.
Try doing this a few times throughout your day:
Stop for a few minutes. Take a few minutes in silence. If you're sitting, keep your spine straight, feet flat on the floor, chin parallel to the floor, and if you can, close your eyes. Take 3 slow, deep breaths. Then let the breath flow naturally, effortlessly, just watch the air going in and out through the nostrils. If thoughts, judgments, ok, thank them gently and refocus on your breathing. Count to 10 breaths. As you inhale, count 1 and exhale, and continue like this until you reach 10 breaths, inhaling and exhaling through your nostrils effortlessly, just watching how you are in this moment. What are the sensations? What are the feelings? Do you feel any discomfort? When counting the breaths, did the thoughts keep “chattering” in your mind?
Do this experiment and tell me how it was, how you felt when you paused for a few minutes in your day and watched your breath. Up for the challenge?
I'm waiting for news!
