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Living mindfully

shelbyk

New member
One of my ongoing goals (for about a year now) is practicing mindfulness in my day-to-day. In my line of work, we place a big emphasis on working on mindfulness with clients. As I began to see the positive effects that it was having on those I worked with, I thought it might be time to start practicing what I preach, and so my own journey into mindful living began. To give some background, there are two beautiful things about mindfulness that really stick out to me. First, it doesn't always have to be a "sunshine and rainbows" sort of practice- sometimes, mindfulness simply means recognizing a negative feeling you might be having, and asking yourself about it, without shaming yourself or putting yourself down for feeling it- where did it come from? Why am I having this reaction? How is this going to affect me right now, as well as in the future? Being able to practice mindfulness in a negative situation has been a game changer for me- it allows me to actually feel an emotion, have a reaction, evaluate within myself, and move forward.
The second beautiful thing about mindfulness is that it creates real, very tangible life changes, without a large amount of effort. A perfect example of this is with eating. Mindfulness in eating means full awareness of your food- think about the visual aspects, the texture, colors, and so on. How does it smell? What are the reactions it's creating in your body? Is this food going to nourish you?
And more while you're eating- how is this food making me feel? How does it taste? How does it feel on my tongue?
Mindful eating can be such an important tool when trying to lose weight- it allows us to really get in touch with our body, and create a healthy partnership with food that breaks the abusive cycle of food as a coping mechanism or means of enjoyment.

Does anyone have any experience practicing mindfulness? If so, how has it changed things for you?
 

DeeDeeDaylee

New member
Hi Shelby,

Mindfulness recently moved from meditative and relaxation to necessary for a fulfilled life. I began researching how to incorporate it into my daily life some years ago and was - as you said - surprised at the changes I saw in my life. But it wasn't until I began to have physical challenges (due to an illness) that I began to recognize and appreciate the full spectrum of mindfulness and it's healing powers. The food we eat, the quality time we spend alone with ourselves and even the interactions we have with others can all be part of "living in a mindful state."

If you aren't familiar with Mindful magazine, I highly encourage you to pick up a copy. I've gotten so much useful information from it. It assisted me in realizing that the exercise of mindfulness is a constant journey with ever-changing lessons. At the risk of sounding hokey, I really have reached another plateau with my mindfulness practice thanks to this simple magazine subscription!

I'm so glad you posted this and I am interested to hear what others say. Is there anyone else that has found simple tools to enrich their daily mindfulness?
 

Tiajanay

Member
I practice mindfulness to deal wirh anxiety and depression and it has definitely made a difference in my life. I've been trying to avoid any kind of anti depressants and mood stabilizer because I'm a new breastfeeding mommy and I wanna be able to give my son the best I can. But life is stressful and it can cause me to feel like I'm drowning sometimes under the weight and stress of the world.

Mindfulness practices have really allowed me to hone in my emotions and take control in short spurts to gain control over panic attacks and fits. I never want my emotional state to effect my child growing up so I work hard to bring myself back to center with mindfulness meditation.
 

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