How Much Effort Does It Actually Take To Live Mindfully?

The researcher Jon Kabat-Zinn writes the following about mindfulness; "The point is to pause in our experience long enough to let the present moment sink in; long enough to actually feel the present moment, to see it in its fullness, to hold it in awareness, and thereby come to know and understand it better."

How much effort does it actually take to live mindfully?
At what times during the day do you pause to think about someone or notice how you are feeling?
Noticing what you are experiencing and incorporating this awareness into all of your interactions begins when you become the observer of your life.

The hard way or the easy way?
It takes only a small amount of time to do something mindfully as it does to act without thinking. The consequences though can be very different as many people have regrettably found out the hard way.

We make conscious choices every day when it is related to an event that we deem to be important to us. Equally, not making a choice when you have the opportunity to make one is also a choice.

Learning to live in the moment begins with catching yourself in the moment. This instance of awareness includes observing what's occurring internally as well as physically.

Ask yourself the following questions:
What am I noticing right now? What's happening in my vicinity? What am I drawn to?
What am I feeling right now? What emotions and physical sensations are flowing through me?
What am I thinking right now? How do I want to react?

With practice, awareness increases and you quickly pick up what the body is feeling and what thoughts are flowing through the mind.

All this occurs in real time and gives you the ability to make appropriate choices that positively impact your present, your future, and the ability to sustain lasting change.

Affirmations

As always, choose affirmations that feel appropriate to you. Feel free to create an affirmation that's suitable to you by asking yourself the following question:
What do I want to ….?

This will help you to create affirmations that assert your purpose and therefore have special meaning to you.
It is important that the words you use are your own or that they feel comfortable to you.
Once you become familiar with using an affirmation, you can create your own ones, based on your specific needs on a day-to-day basis using language and content to better fit what is happening in your own life.

I have the freedom to find out who I am

I forgive who I was in the past

I accept what is happening and trust that all will be well

I know that I am a loving person and that I am loved