What is mindful living and is it something we need to practice?
This is a question I’m frequently asked by my clients. Mindful living is staying present in your day to day life. When you get distracted, you bring your attention back to what you’re doing in this moment.
Sounds simple, right? The problem is that some of my clients are already stretched to the limit and the idea of having to ‘do’ one more thing in their busy lives means they probably won’t do it. They like the idea of being more present and living more mindfully but they just don’t want one more thing to learn and remember to do.
So we discuss the principles behind a mindful and simple life and how looking in that direction brings a peacefulness to the mind even when things are chaotic.
So here are some thoughts on a simpler way of living…
- Instead of adding more ‘to-dos’ to your busy mind, look towards where your experience in that moment is coming from. Once you see that everything you experience comes through you via your thinking in that moment and not from your circumstances, you’ll begin to live life quite differently.
- Your feelings are a reflection of your thinking in that moment. So when you’re feeling strong emotions over the small stuff, you’ll realise at some point where those feelings are coming from and you’ll find you won’t hold onto to them.
- Stop trying to control your mind. Trying to think positively, reframing a thought or trying to overthink a problem, just interferes with your mind’s natural ability to self-correct. Once you know where your experience is coming from, trying to control your mind just interferes with its natural ability to settle down all by itself.
- When you catch yourself ruminating over something from your past or worrying incessantly about the future, you’ll remember your feelings are not giving you sound information to act on. They are simply telling you about the quality of your thinking, nothing else. That’s when it becomes possible to fall into the present moment without having to ‘do’ anything.
Being mindful doesn’t require work… it just requires a different way of looking at life.
Contact me to let me know how you get on and if you have any questions.
