Shut Down Your Judgmental Mind, Reduce Stress and Live More Peacefully… (with Mindfulness)
If you could take a pill, that instantly fills your life with joy and happiness, reduce all your stress, anxiety and depression, would you take it?
You shouldn’t, cause that pill is cocaine. 😜🤣
But there is another way you can get all that, and more, without taking cocaine, that is called “mindfulness”. I have been practicing mindfulness for about 10 months, read 4–5 books, taken a couple of online courses, and I can testify, anyone who wants to tame their blabbering judgmental bitch mind and live more peacefully, can significantly benefit from this practice.
Mindfulness originally started as a Buddhist practice, but it has no relation with any religion, spirituality, or any voodoo witchcraft. It’s a simple practice of being fully present and awake in the present moment starting with following your breath.
Breath in. Breath out. Follow your breath. Empty your mind.
When we were young, we looked to the world with curiosity and wonder. Everything seemed new and fresh, we gave everything our full attention. But over time everything that can be seen becomes seen, and reality loses its charm. We start to lose track of the real world and keep living in our thoughts. We cherish past memories, ponder about the future, criticize and judge what other people have done to us, or what they didn’t do, and more than anyone else, we judge ourselves, for not being good enough, pretty enough, rich enough. But among all these, we forget to live in the present moment, taste the food we are eating, feel the drop of water on our skin in the shower, feel the love from the loving one we are talking to right now. We do this so often that at some point, we find it hard to come back to the reality, even if we try. WE distant OURSELVES from the reality, and as a result WE feel disconnected, alone. Mindfulness is a way to practice being fully present here and now, non-judgmentally, with compassion and kindness towards ourselves and others.
Researchers found that for about 48% of our awake time, we live in our thoughts (I think for me it’s more). That’s almost half of our lives, not lived! That’s like Thanos snapping away half of all our time alive. The Avengers should teach mindfulness instead of kicking arses! 😛
I have been trying and failing different mindfulness practices, but it has been a lonely journey, as no one else I know does this. Being a researcher I have to handle 4–5 research projects simultaneously, but among all these I try to do mindfulness meditation for one hour every morning. If you are curious, I can give you a taste here. Ask me for more details if you think this might help you.
Here you go:
- Sit comfortably, with your eyes open or close.
- Breathe naturally, the way you feel comfortable.
- Pay attention to your breath going inside your lungs through your nose and throat, coming out.
- While paying attention to breath, take a mental note, “breath”.
- Within a few seconds, your mind will wander to some thoughts in past or present.
- Now is the most important part, instead of getting impatient, angry, simply bring your attention back to breath. Note that thought as “not breath”.
- Focus on “breath” and whenever “not breath” appears in your mind, just let it go. Don’t hold on to it, don’t judge.
- Your attention will wander many many times. Don’t judge yourself for losing focus. Treat yourself with compassion. Bring attention back to breath.
- Over time, apply this method of focus and paying attention to other parts of your life, like eating, listening to music, working out, etc. Instead of the breath, what you are doing becomes the center of your attention.
#peace
