Mindfulness

[PartTimeBrewer]

              I am starting a new thread here mainly for purposes of my own catharsis. It is my intention, at least at this point, to make regular contributions. Of course, if anyone else has anything to add, they are more than welcome. If you have any input, please contribute.

              Over a year ago I decided to deal head-on with my self-diagnosed adult attention disorder, (ADD). The inability to stay focused was becoming too stressful. I found myself sitting around watching the clock tick, yet I couldn’t keep “on task” with any project I started. Nothing was getting done and just starting something was becoming depressing.

              The smart thing to do was probably to get professional help, so instead I decided to try to heal myself, at least as a first try. Cognitive therapy and pharmaceuticals (UGH) might be the approved way to go but I decided to try meditation first.

              18 months and countless self-help books later, I still can’t bring myself to a regular, formal meditation program. But, along the way, I discovered informal mindfulness. Yes, I know it is the “Fad” right now. It is hard to navigate modern social trends without “tripping over” somebody extolling the benefits of mindfulness.

              Let me add my voice to the chorus.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"It is better to have a mind opened by wonder than a mind closed by belief." ~ Gerry Spence

[PartTimeBrewer]

Two days ago, I suggested that the antidote for anger is compassion. The source I am working from actually suggested gratitude. That works too. The important thing is that there us an antidote for the emotions that can derail our best intentions. Rather than trying to disarm anger directly, focus on compassion or gratitude; they are incompatible with anger. The emotion that you feed is the one that will grow.
What is the antidote for paralyzing fear? Faith. It can be faith in a higher power, if that works for you. It doesn't for me, but I can still lean on faith. Faith in the process. The process is everything that has brought me to where I am. Some of it is under my power, most of it is not. But I can trust it to take me to wherever... And I will go on from there. You can't hold fear and faith together.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"There is a gap between needing to make a decision and actually making it, and that gap is almost always filled with fear." ~ Timber Hawkeye

[PartTimeBrewer]

This is where an element of faith comes to the rescue. Faith that no matter what comes of a decision, you will make it work for you. Sometimes it involves a leap into the unknown, sometimes the execution of a carefully laid plan. But remember, to do nothing is also a decision.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Gotta move forward, what other choice do you have.

[PartTimeBrewer]

How can I honor the beliefs of others, even when they run counter to my own? I mean honor them, not just tolerate them. Compassion is the antidote for anger. With compassion I can realize that their belief is just as real to them as mine are to me. I don't have to agree or surrender to their program but differences will never be overcome if I escalate the situation with anger.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." ~ Proverbs 15:1
Anger may be the quicker emotion, but stop, give it a moment. Compassion is the antidote.

[PartTimeBrewer]

I want to apply this to myself as well as others. Too often I inflame personal insecurities with unnecessarily harsh self-criticisms.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Often fear is a manifestation of pain. And the pain is a result of an attachment to the status quo. The attachment is unrealistic. Things change. The only way out is to embrace the change with the faith that you will handle the outcomes.

[PartTimeBrewer]

There is a lot of focus on breathing in the practice of mindfulness. Take a breath. Feel all the sensations associated with it; the air passing through your nose or mouth and then through your airways, the rise and fall of your diaphragm, the alternate expansion and contraction of your rib cage. It's all very relaxing, but did you express your gratitude? You did not "take" a breath, it was given to you. A gift from the planet; from the Amazon rain forest, from the algae of the ocean. How can we give back to our benefactors if we don't even think of them?

[PartTimeBrewer]

Psychologists refer to a mental process called "priming" where exposure to one stimulus influences the response to a subsequent stimulus. It's a broad ranging phenomenon covering many mental processes. For instance advertisers use it extensively to increase our propensity to buy their products.
But I'm thinking today of stimuli which prime emotional responses. Exposure to the many forms of media on TV, radio, internet etc. Likewise books, papers, magazines. If all you ever see or hear is reports of social atrocities, are you priming yourself for fear, anger, worry etc. Meditation is supposed to lead you to a calm place, but to what extent do we have to prime that result?

[PartTimeBrewer]

Abuse comes in many forms, not always physical. It takes disciplined focus and a commitment to compassion not to be torn down by the emotional warfare inflicted by a close friend or relative.