On purpose:

In the present moment:

And nonjudgmentally.

-Jon Kabat-Zinn

In plain english Mindfulness is the practice of being completely engaged in the present moment. The idea is to clear your mind of every thought, every judgment, every reflection and every decision so that you are simply experiencing the present. This enables us to see the moment for what it is, without any pre-concieved notions or thoughts.

Have you ever lay awake in bed for hours thinking about things going on around you and found that all kinds of scenarios and thoughts raced through your mind? Often times we get caught in a spiral of unhelpful, stress-inducing thoughts and before we know it we are so stressed out that sleep is the last thing on our minds.

This is where Mindfulness can help and I don’t mean just at bedtime! In any situation where there is anxiety, stress or even depression, practicing Mindfulness can help to stop the negative spiral of our thoughts and let us see the moment for how it really is. Anxiety is a classic example where people get so stressed by the thoughts that are going around in their mind that they fail to see the situation for what it is, all they can see is the picture that they have in their minds and it is usually not good! Mindfulness can help with that.

The Seven Key Elements of Mindfulness post explains more about the process of achieving a mindful state.

Long practiced in a wide range of Eastern philosophies including Taoism, Buddhism and Yoga, mindfulness has only recently emerged as a useful tool in western society and is being used to treat many different psychological issues such as chronic pain, anxiety and depression.

To quote Jon Kabat-Zinn once more, mindfulness is “The Art of Conscious Living” and once mastered can greatly improve your health, happiness and can change your outlook on life very quickly. To see Jon Kabat-Zinn in action take a look at the Video of Jon Leading a Mindfulness Session for employees of Google.

Ever since listening to a Mindfulness CD that was given to us as part of the pain management course that I did I have a lot of faith in the ability of our mind to overcome almost anything that stands in our way of living a full, happy life.

I sincerly hope that what you are about to listen to will have a positive effect on your life and help you to relax and be able to focus on the good things that you have around you. Stress and anxiety can often cloud our vision and I found this through this course I was able to concentrate on the positive influences in my life once again.

Anyway, please take the time to listen to the demo track in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed and take it all in. I think it is a great way of dealing with your thoughts when things aren’t going so great and if you like the demo I am sure you will find the rest of the course very beneficial.

Click here and enjoy!

Craig

You don’t have to be Einstein to realise that we are living in a world that is increasingly becoming more stressful. The pressures of achieving both on a personal and work-related level have never been higher. I can still remember how laid back my grandparents were and when they talked about their lives you came to understand that life was a lot simpler back then and people were more relaxed and their lives were not as complicated.

Fast forward to our generation and things are moving along at an alarming pace. The number one priority these days seems to be how much can we accomplish in one lifetime, even if we fail to stop and take a look at what we have done. There is no time to stop and smell the roses when there are more rose bushes to grow!

The downside is that we don’t have a chance to look after ourselves, both physically and emotionally. This is where we need to have that switch installed so that we can take a moment to ourselves to chill out and relax. I for one know what it is like to be caught up in the rat-race and how quickly and easily burn-out creeps up on you. I put my chronic back pain not only down to an injury but also to the fact that I was so totally exhausted that my body was unable to repair itself when the initial damage was done.

The good news is that there is a way of keeping our stress levels in check. In essence it involves not only ‘flipping the switch’ and taking time out for ourselves but also making the most of the time while the switch is flipped. Many people say that they just don’t have the time available to chill out or relax and with the lifestyles that the majority of people live these days that is hardly surprising but I know that even ten minutes when using this method does make a big difference to the way I feel and hopefully it will help you also.

The method that I am talking about is a little bit more than the old ‘relaxation tapes’ that put you to sleep with a droning voice and it also feels like it is more than just relaxing music playing in your ears. Don’t ask me how it works, I just know that even ten minutes will have you feeling so relaxed it’s not funny! What I suggest you do is give the  free demo a go to see what results you get and if you find it helps I am sure you will benefit from the rest of the course as well.

To listen to the ten minute demo, click here.

Here’s to a life lived without too much stress and worry!

Craig

Have you ever faced a situation where your mind played out scenario’s in your head that had you all tense and stressed before the event had even occurred? Maybe it was going for a job interview or facing up to someone that you had been arguing with or even stepping out the door and going about your daily life brings on these thoughts and feelings of stress.

Nobody is immune to anxiety and it does serve a purpose in life. If we were completely oblivious to it we could find ourselves in situations that may be life threatening but it is when the anxiety causes irrational thinking and behavior that it becomes a problem. How we are able to cope with these thoughts and feelings determines how much it affects us, some people cope with it quite well and seem very confident and secure in themselves but some of us are unfortunately controlled by our feelings of anxiety.

How does practicing mindfulness increase our ability to deal with anxiety? The art of living mindfully involves taking a break from the thoughts doing the rounds in our heads and seeing everything for as it is. That is not a great definition but it is a hard concept to put into words. In essence though what we try to do is to remove any emotion or feeling from the situation we are in and take everything on ‘face value’.

That’s great Craig, but how the hell do I do this? Glad you asked! (Sorry, I am in a particularly funny mood tonight. I have been struggling for a couple of days with my back pain and all my frustration is coming out here!) The first skill we need to develop is to recognize when we start feeling uncomfortable or anxious. Once we can identify these feelings at an early stage we have a better chance of nipping it in the bud before it becomes an issue.

The next step is to remove yourself from the situation – not physically and certainly not when your complete concentration is required. All of this takes practice and mental strength, I have been applying these methods in my life for over six months now and I am nowhere near getting it right one hundred percent of the time yet but persistence does pay off. Anyhoo, back to the subject at hand.

Once you have the chance to ‘remove’ yourself it is time to take a few deep breaths in and out. Now for the tricky bit, pick something to concentrate on. I like to concentrate solely on the rise and fall of my chest as I take the breaths. I also find that in the beginning I needed to close my eyes for this to work but please yourself. No falling asleep though!

As you focus your concentration on the one thing you have chosen you will notice thoughts come and go in your mind. That is perfectly ok, what we aren’t trying to do is suppress our thoughts. What we are trying to do is let those thoughts come and go but not pay any attention to them what so ever. Certain thoughts will enter our mind and what we were concentrating on will be totally forgotten.

All of a sudden that thought of what Mr. XYZ really thinks of us will come flooding back into our mind and we are back to square one again. The trick is to catch yourself before that happens and simply let that thought of Mr. XYZ come in and most importantly flow out of our mind without even a second glance given to it.

I have found that with practice I can clear my mind within a matter of minutes and once the feeling of calm comes back it is simply a matter of returning back to what you were doing. Make no mistake this does take a fair bit of practice and mental strength to achieve but I do know from experience that it does make life a great deal easier.

I truly hope that this post has made some sense to you, my writing skills are far from great but if even one persons life is made easier from this my job is done. If you feel that you need a better explanation I recommend that you take a look at the Mindfulness for Beginners CD which will give you a far better understanding of the concepts involved. If you are suffering from anxiety I wish you all the best in finding a solution that works for you, life is hard enough without having to deal with this type of thing. Keep you chin up and don’t ever forget that the sun will shine again and soon!

Craig

Anyway back to the topic at hand, it is my opinion that pain is not a product of the mind however, I am living proof that we can limit our suffering by training our mind to react in certain ways when we feel pain. This is far from easy and takes a great deal of practice to master. I have been consistently ‘catching’ myself whenever I start to let my pain overcome me but I still have days when my mind is tired and the pain takes over and I suffer physically to the point of spending all day just trying to get around. I would like to share with you a ‘good’ day though when my mind is strong enough to deal with the pain.

Usually when I first wake up is a bad time for me. My back is stiff and sore and it takes quite a while for me to be able to put my weight on my feet due to painful heels. This is make or break time for me! Either I will sit there on the bed and whine and complain about the pain (usually only when there is a sympathetic ear around, but these are few and far between these days!) or I will take control over it and put Mindfulness into practice.

Try this any time you feel pain and see if it helps you – sit yourself on the edge of the bed and take deep breaths in and out. Concentrate only on your breathing. Feel the breath coming into your lungs and feel it coming out again. Watch your chest rise and fall with each breath. Try doing this for five minutes without loosing your concentration. You will find that thoughts enter your mind pretty much continually and the key is to acknowledge that they are there and simply move them on, don’t pay any attention to them.

If you find your focus has moved away from your breathing and watching your chest rise and fall, gently take your focus back to these things and continue the exercise. The next part is something that I have added to the exercise and find very helpful although you may not read about it in any Mindfulness books! While still focusing on your breathing, say out loud “I am going to have a good day” or “I have many reasons to make the most of today and that is exactly what I am going to do”.

I find affirmations are a great way to prepare me mentally to deal with my pain and keep me going throughout the day. These are just a couple that I find useful and obviously different affirmations will work for different people. One thing I avoid is saying things like – “I can deal with this pain” or “This pain won’t get the better of me”. I find even the mention of the word pain will shift your focus back to it and it will take over your thoughts again and you’re back to square one.

Once I am happy that I am mentally prepared for the day I go back to focusing on my breathing and watching my chest rise and fall for a minute or two and then slowly bring myself back to the room. I find this exercise so good that even though I am in quite a bit of pain there is no way that I can stay sitting on that bed wallowing in my self-pity, I simply have to get up and do my best to make the day a good one. Admittedly I may have to do this several times a day to stay positive but that doesn’t matter, do it as many times as you need to.

There will always be times when it is easier just to lie back down, make yourself as comfortable as you can and stay there all day. I know I have done this on many occasions when I just can’t get my mind to ‘over-ride’ what I am feeling physically and it is awfully hard to keep going. If you find yourself having one of these days try doing this exercise again in one hour and keep trying until you have enough mental strength to get yourself out of bed. Also, try thinking of something that you like doing that you could do once you are up and about, I find that helps a lot. Heck, I even think of sitting down having a cup of coffee as a positive reason to get out of bed these days! Sad isn’t it!

I have no doubt at all that even chronic pain is not all in the mind, but I do hope that this little exercise may give you enough mental strength to overcome your pain enough to give you a positive outlook on life and I know from experience that staying positive can make life so much easier when you are suffering in pain.

I would love to hear your comments on what you think about this subject and whether or not this exercise helped in any way.

I have been at this keyboard for over an hour now so I think I better go and lie down! Nah, just kidding! I could really do with a stretch and walk around though.

Take Care

Craig

Meditation has been found to have a positive influence on the body, mind, and spirit.  Successful management of chronic pain, decrease in blood pressure, and reduction in stress hormones are a few of the physiological benefits of meditative practices.  Meditation is also known to produce a variety of psychological benefits, including reduction of anxiety, enhanced sense of well-being, increased awareness of emotions, and a greater sense of self-actualization.  Spiritual bliss and enlightenment are among the spiritual benefits of meditation.

Recently scientists have looked at the effect of mindfulness meditation (one type of awareness meditation) on the brain and neuroplasticity.  Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to develop and change – essentially rewire itself – in response to training and/or experience.  Richard Davidson, PhD at the University of Wisconsin has conducted research that indicates that meditation increases neuronal firings in the left frontal cortex of the brain – the same area associated with positive feelings and happiness.  Studies involving very experienced meditators (Buddhist monks) have shown that these brain changes may be long lasting.  In other words, mindfulness meditation may increase your level of happiness and the more you practice the happier you will be.

Rather than disregarding any distracting thoughts, those practicing mindfulness meditation simply observe their thoughts without judgment.  The goal of this form of meditation is to increase awareness in the present moment.  If you want to give this type of meditation a try, I suggest beginning with a mindful walking practice.  This simply means that while you are walking, you keep your awareness on the experience of walking.  Stay in the present moment and be aware of what your body feels like as you walk.  Notice the sensations as you put one foot in front of the other.  Notice the sights, sounds, and smells around you.  Simply keep your awareness on your experience in the moment.

When other thoughts come into your mind (and they most definitely will come) simply observe them and let them go – without judging them.  This is a key to mindfulness – rather than getting caught up in these thoughts or berating yourself for having distracting thoughts, it is important to be an impartial observer of the thoughts flowing through your mind.  Remember… observe the thoughts and let them go.

As you gain experience with this type of meditation, you will gain the understanding that your true essence – your essential spirit – is not the contents of your mind, but rather the observer of the contents.  This awareness will help you detach from intense emotions and allow them to flow freely and easily.  When practiced on a regular basis, mindfulness becomes a way of life and a path toward greater happiness, peace, and joy.

Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D. is a psychologist, consultant, life coach, inspirational speaker, and entrepreneur.  Dr. Harrell has combined her expertise in positive psychology, energy psychology, stress management, and mind-body therapies, to provide cutting edge services to individuals and businesses for over 15 years.  In addition, she is a leading authority on the use of positive thinking to create health, happiness, and success.  Dr. Harrell has taught graduate level courses at the University of Dayton and Wright State University.  She is the President and co-founder of Popular Inspirations, Ltd. http://www.ipopin.com and co-creator of ipopins (the one minute affirmations).

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kirsten_Harrell,_Psy.D. http://EzineArticles.com/?Mindfulness-Meditation—A-Path-To-Happiness&id=762744

The Seven Key Elements to Mindfulness by William Meek.

1. Non-Judging: taking the role of an impartial observer to whatever your current experience is.
2. Patience: cultivating the understanding that things must develop in their own time.
3. Beginner’s Mind: having the willingness to observe the world as if it was your first time doing so. This creates an openness that is essential to being mindful.
4. Trust: having trust in yourself, your intuition, and your abilities.
5. Non-Striving: the state of not doing anything, just simply accepting that things are happening in the moment just as they are supposed to. For people from the Western countries like the Unites States, this seems to be one of the more difficult components.
6. Acceptance: completely accepting the thoughts, feelings, sensations, and beliefs that you have, and understanding that they are simply those things only.
7. Non-Attachment: avoidance of attaching meaning to thoughts and feelings, or connecting a given thought to a feeling. Instead, let a thought or feeling come in and pass without connecting it to anything, observing them exactly as they are.

 Pain is a warning sign that what we are doing or have done is likely to put us in danger. Placing your hand on a hot stove is a good example of this. The pain sensation is there to warn us and tell us that if we leave our hand on the stove we will suffer and now is the time to remove it! Therefore pain sensations play a very important part in keeping us safe.

 The same cannot be said for chronic pain however. Studies have shown that chronic pain lingers around long after any damage has been suffered and the danger to the body has passed. This is where Mindfulness is especially useful.

 When suffering pain of any type all sorts of things can be conjoured up in the mind, increasing tension and stress levels in the body and increasing pain levels. Such thoughts can be;

•  Worry that the injury is serious.
•  Fear that it may get worse.
•  Frustration that your activities may be put on hold.
•  Anger if this is a recurring problem.
•  Depression from potential changes to lifestyle and general feeling of being in pain.

 All of these thoughts can add up to one ordinary experience. Once we learn to effectively practice mindfulness we can however seperate the thoughts we are having from the actual pain sensations and reduce our level of self-imposed stress.

 The practice does not promote supression of these thoughts, rather the acceptance that we have those thoughts and without focusing on them we simply let them go from our mind and bring our focus back to our physical self, back to the here and now.

 Take it from me, I have suffered chronic back pain for just over two years and I have not found any other technique (or drug for that matter) that is as effective in improving and maintaining mental health through what is a very trying time. 

 In 2005 I suffered a back injury which led to the closing down of our business and I had to depend on Social Security payments as I didn’t have any Income Insurance. Yeah, bad I know, I just never thought I would need Income Insurance! Fool me!

 Anyhow, life was pretty ordinary and through the rehabilitation centre that I had to attend to keep my payments coming in, I asked to see a psychologist. I was depressed about the whole situation I was in and needed some help to deal with what was going on.

 The pyschologist suggested that I do the Mindfulness Course that they had going so I agreed and turned up for the first of four weekly sessions not knowing what to expect. Day one was basically full of confusion and I have to admit that I had no idea how this Mindfulness stuff was going to help me. Thankfully we had a good teacher, you’re a champ Elli!

 After the week 4 session I had a good grasp on what was ‘Mindfulness’ and I continued practicing it whenever I felt the need. Then I was told that the course had been slightly changed and they would like me to attend the following course to see what I thought.

 It wasn’t until about halfway through the second course that I truly mastered Mindfulness and was able to accept all the thoughts going around in my head and merely keep them moving on instead of dwelling on them and setting myself off into a spiral of unhelpful thoughts that kept going and going and going.

 This was when I saw the true benefits of Mindfulness and how much it has changed my life for the better. If I find myself thinking unhelpful thoughts I now almost sub-consciously go into the mindful state and deal with them appropriately.

 The benefits to me have been huge, I am a lot happier, I now see reasons to live and push forward in my life on a daily basis instead of focusing on the negatives. I find that something that I thought was insurmountable before has become a realistic goal and most of all I can take myself away for a couple of minutes and deal with my feelings of pain a lot better than I could before.

 I could go on for hours about the positive changes that mindfulness has brought into my life and the lives of the people around me but as I said I will keep it short and not bore you too much!

 Mindfulness does take time to master but once you have a good grasp of the concept it will help you in all aspects of your life and I know this from personal experience. In my opinion it is a useful tool for anyone that is feeling even the slightest bit stressed or depressed or anxious or just generally unhappy with their lives and I’m sure that it would be just as useful in extreme cases also.

Craig Wilson