Is Mindfulness Impossible?
Sep 19, 2021
"Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience." - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Do you feel like mindfulness is impossible?
Is it an abstract concept that feels inaccessible?
Allow me to break it down for you: Mindfulness is the experience of being present and grateful for whatever the current circumstances are, in each moment.
This may sound cliche in a world with so many challenges, but it is truly the medicine we need. Our nervous systems were not designed to know everything that is going on everywhere in the world. We are designed to be present where we are and create change in the communities where we live.
As Tibetan mindfulness teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says, "Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive."
Thus, mindfulness brings us the gift we need for our times. It's how we can be both proactive in the world without getting overwhelmed by taking on too much at once.
Thich Nhat Hanh shares this verse to practice mindfulness in his book No Mud, No Lotus:
"Waking up this morning I smile,
I have twenty-four hours to live.
I love to live them deeply
and learn to look at the beings around me with the eyes of compassion."
Each line is said with the breath, starting with an inhale for the first line, exhale second line, and so on. Hanh further explains: "As you breathe, you use the verse to focus your attention on the meaning of the words. You want to live the twenty-four hours that are given you in such a way that peace, joy, and happiness are possible. You're determined not to waste your twenty-four hours, because you know those twenty-four hours are a gift of life, and you receive that gift every morning. That is mindfulness."
Does reading this shift anything for you? How do you feel?
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