MINDFUL MEDITATION

Many activities require great concentration

Mindful Meditation
Recognizing what you need comes not from what you perceive outwardly, but from what comes to you inwardly through prayer, meditation, and listening to your innermost feelings.

A couple of summers ago I injured my right ankle and attended physiotherapy department for a series of treatments. I waited for my therapist, leisurely flicking through a glossy magazine, and two elderly women joined me in the waiting area; one in a wheelchair.
I couldn’t help but hear their conversation as the two friends discussed the hot humid New England weather that we were experiencing that day. Both agreed that they disliked the heat. “When my husband was alive,” began the woman in the wheelchair, “he was always turning up the thermostat, while I was opening windows. He liked the heat, you see.”
There was a slight pause, and her voice became wistful and wavered as she spoke. “I would put up with any amount of heat if I could just have him back.”

Nothing on Earth remains the same, but being able to live in the present moment enables us to heighten our experiences and interactions with people.
Every moment counts. No moment is more important than the one you are experiencing right now. Events and milestones are significant and add to your mental library of happy memories or lessons to learn from. But even these come down to the thoughts that take place inside you.

Meditation and the Moment
Meditation helps you to appreciate the value of time and your experiences and interactions with the people that you see every day.
Meditation keeps you in the present moment, not only during your meditation session, but afterwards too.
Meditation trains the mind so that you are able to catch thoughts before they turn into actions and thereby choose appropriate ones.

Mindful Meditation
In your comfortable seated pose, use the methods shown in previous blogs to release the mind from thoughts and conversations, feelings and emotions, and to simply follow the breath.
Feel the breath become slow and steady.
When the mind is calm and peaceful and the breath slow and steady, focus on the intake of the breath from the tip of the nose into the base of the lungs.
As you exhale, follow the breath slowly all the way out of the body and out through the tip of the nose.
Continue with this rhythmical breath.
Ignore any thoughts that enter the mind’s awareness.
Stay focused on the flow of the breath.
As your meditation deepens, you may lose awareness of the body.
Stay with the flow of the breath and then allow the mind to release into the space between the breath.
Continue in this manner until you feel that your meditation session is over.

Mindfulness helps you notice small gifts in life such as this rainbow forming

Mindful Present
During your everyday activities, stay mindful by keeping the breath steady and even. Focus on each task, whether you are at work, in conversation with someone, or preparing food for dinner.
Notice your thoughts and behaviors.
Notice how you react to other people.
Strive to remain positive and non-judgmental
Return to the steady flow of the breath when you need to draw yourself back to the peaceful place within.
Treasure each moment and you will have a lifetime of happy memories,