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]

I knew my congressman, (Tim Ryan, Dem. Ohio 17th district) practiced meditation, but I just found out he has written a book on mindfulness, A Mindful Nation. Moreover, it was only 99¢ on my Kindle Fire. Will see what he has to say on it.

[PartTimeBrewer]

Book has an amazing resource addendum. Not just people, books, media etc., but online courses and offerings from universities.

[Angharad]

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” ― Dalai Lama

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Instead of trying to find peace, learn how to find peace with what you find."

[PartTimeBrewer]

Sometimes it seems that mindfulness and stoicism are on the same page. There are differences, but both seem invested in the message of the Serenity Prayer (which is usually credited to the Christian tradition in its current formulation.)

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The little things: they are not so little. They are life!"  -  Jon Kabat-Zinn

[PartTimeBrewer]

It's funny how often these aphorisms seem to contradict each other and yet capture something meaningful. We are also told: "Don't sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff."  -  Richard Carlson. We can't let any individual element of our experience dominate our attention to the exclusion of the rest because collectively, they are the fabric of our lives. Value them all equally.

[PartTimeBrewer]

"Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day,  in all the small uncaring ways."  -  Stephen Vincent Benet

[PartTimeBrewer]

"The most precious gift we can give to others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers." -  Thich Nhat Hahn

[PartTimeBrewer]

"A helping word to one in trouble is often like a switch on a railroad track...An inch between wreck and smooth, rolling prosperity."  -  Henry Ward Beecher

[PartTimeBrewer]

Practitioners of meditation and mindfulness regularly stress the importance of integrating compassion and loving kindness for others into one's practice. But so often they make it sound like a perspective that we must strive for whether we value it or not. I say, do the practice and see what happens, like a science experiment. My results, so far?  Compassion just happens, it's spontaneous! I'm trying to settle my mind and the others in my life experience a 'collateral benefit'.

[Angharad]

"If you aren't in the moment, you are either looking forward to uncertainty, or back to pain and regret."--Thich Nhat Hanh