Mindful Meditation

Once Buddha came to speak at his sermon carrying a satin cloth in his hands. He asked people what they saw, to which everyone replied in unison that it was a beautiful satin cloth. Then Buddha started tying knots to it. After putting about five of them, he asked people whether it was the same cloth. People confirmed it was, though it was little

different now because it had knots.

To this, Buddha replied that it was what he wanted them to understand. 

“You miss seeing the fine satin fiber lines because you are in knots.” 

Mindfulness meditation teaches you to be the same cloth but without knots. He then asked the best way to open them, and if pulling the cloth from both sides would help the purpose. People replied that it wasn’t the correct way as it would in fact tighten the knots. 

Acknowledging that, Buddha told them that even though most know it wouldn’t help, they still try to open their knots by pulling! He added that while the intention of an individual to overcome difficulties can be termed as good, the mean adopted to do it is not always the right one. In confusion of solving out something, most make it complicated. 

“If you want to open the bumps, close your mind to disturbances, and untie them with caution.”

What is Mindfulness Meditation?
Mindfulness meditation is being in present. It means doing the current work with utmost clarity, patience and dedication. It is not a condition to be achieved, but a way of living. For example, if you are eating, being a mindful eater would mean that you are aware of how much to eat and stop when your stomach feels full. Mindfulness meditation makes you aware of your body, thoughts and surroundings. 

According to the statistics listed on this website, mindfulness meditation improves anxiety levels 60% of the time. The same site lists reduction of risk of being hospitalized for coronary disease by 87%, relief in the symptoms of insomnia by 75% of the time, increase in productivity by 120% and reduction in PMS symptoms by 57% as some of the direct effects of mindfulness meditation. 

Mindfulness Meditation Exercises
Most people think of meditation as a daunting task, because it is only when they sit in silence they realize clutter in mind. These are the random thoughts that go on, without necessarily having any connection with the present reality. Mindfulness meditation encourages to accept them and move beyond. Since body and environment influence thoughts and our reality, mindfulness teaches us to be kind and convert our clutter into something meaningful and loving. If you want to know some techniques for it, read on:

1. Sit quiet and observe: For about 10 minutes every day, keep everything aside. Put your smartphone at a place where it can not disturb you and observe the little movements of nature around you. Ants, birds, leaves, wind, smell of soil, chirping of birds, noise of a dog bark, smell of cooking, sound of a car engine, blast of sunlight, ripples of water, colourfulness of flowers – there are many things that happen simultaneously around us. Find your centre and notice the comfort of sitting still.
2. Put positivity in practice: Sweet words, like flowers, are essence of our innate nature. Speak slowly, but speak positively and if you want to learn positive thinking, read this. 
3. List the details: Anytime, anywhere – list at least 10 details of a place/moment/incident that you would not have otherwise noticed. 
4. Say no to multitasking: Doing more than one chore at a time wastes more time. Do a task fully before moving on to another one. You mind would want to jump, but resist the temptation of leaving something in between. Don’t let your mobile phone break your cycle. 
5. Develop 2/60 cycle: Spend every 2 minutes of an hour to embrace silence, mentally getting ready for the next one hour. Use mindfulness to give your mind some time to shift its wavelength one from task to another. 

Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

Clear mind: When you learn to control your thoughts and stay in the present, the mind stops wandering. It moves away from the buts and ifs, and stays where you want it to be. The calming effect increases concentration and reduces the chances of immoral behaviour. 

Happiness becomes a choice: As I wrote earlier, recognising the importance of current time is bliss. Read a small story about it.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Like anything you read? Want to experience meditation? I am one crazy-about-meditation kind of person who likes to experiment it as much as I can. Give me a shout & I’d love to share! 

Love,

Nitima

Email: Sood(dot)nitima(at the rate)gmail(dot)com