Congratulations! Together we reached the end of our series on mindfulness. If you have been reading the last two months of posts, you know we delved into this topic and learned from the book Mindfulness by Mark Williams and Danny Penman.
Here are some of the areas we discussed:
- Mindfulness is “waking up” to our present reality.
- We can realize our thoughts are events in the mind and not present reality.
- Mindfulness switches our brains from using the problem solving mode to using the being mode.
- Your body and mind are in constant communication. Your body might react even before you register the thought. Thus, listening to our body can be restorative and reveal what is going on in the mind.
- A key to mindfulness is acceptance: a pause and a letting be.
Thank you for journeying with me. I learned so much. I hope you gained through this time too!
In this final post in our series, I want to leave you with a question.
Are you kind to yourself?
It seems my head houses an inner critic who lets me know I am not doing enough, or what I am doing isn’t done well enough. However, my heart speaks a soothing, quiet language of encouragement. She is empathetic and kind.
Kindness to yourself is listening to this voice of empathy. It’s realizing we are always learning and consequently making mistakes. It’s knowing we can be forgetful and that we will make the same mistakes again. Kindness is knowing you are full of wonder for you can dream, create, grow, and give.
When we start with empathy and kindness towards ourselves, we can give it to others.
Here is our last set of quotes.
Quotes from Mindfulness:
- “So, you need to go one step further if you want not only to bring about the bone-deep peace that comes from cultivating mindfulness, but also to help sustain it in the light of the stresses that life throws at you. You need to relate to the world with kindness and compassion, and you can only do this if you come home to who you are, accepting yourself with deepest respect, honor, and, yes, love.” Page 196-197
This quote reminds me of what Jesus says the second greatest commandment for our lives is: to love others like we love ourselves.* We need to love ourselves (kindness to ourselves) to show love to others.
- “But it may be helpful to imagine that our deepest thoughts and feelings don’t want indulging (or dismissing). They just want to be heard and understood.” Page 205
Here is a tip I want to share. Throughout your day, take pauses. This can be a moment of quiet recentering (a kind gesture to yourself). You can ground yourself by asking, “What am I thinking about?” “How am I feeling?” “What is my body telling me?”
As you understand where you are at in the current moment with this pause, you can then choose to let it all go, focus on your breathing, or pray. This pause and acceptance of where you are at will allow you to “come home to who you are.”
- This is the mindfulness you have been learning too; to hold the difficult aspects of your daily life, as well as your beliefs or expectations about them, and to move close to them. This is what you’ve been learning during the previous six weeks of practice by focusing on your bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts.” Page 222-223
We have been learning mindfulness and now it’s time to remember to add a mix of kindness.
Thinking: I am glad I discovered a new way to meditate. I used to think that I was bad at it since my mind wandered. Now I tell myself, “My dear, that is the point. Minds wander…it is what they do. We then choose what to do when we notice our thoughts running away with us.”
Feeling: Meditation is a growing habit that I am now looking forward to.
Discovering: With this series I’ve opened a door to discovering a new approach to thinking. This is just the start! We have so much more to discover in regards to mindfulness!
-Kassie Joy
*This verse is found in the Bible in Matthew (Matt. 22:39)
