THE PRACTICE OF mindfulness, now.

Being mindful, living mindfully, is to live in conscious awareness of the here, now, and this before us. Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of, and attention to our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.

Meditation is a powerful practice that trains the mind to be present to the here and now, not back there in the past, of too far forward in the future, just single mindedly being aware and attentive to the this, here, and now of the present. Living mindfully is the extension of the meditative state to the daily human experiences of life and living. The meditative state of living mindfully in the moment empowers us to response adequately and appropriately to the life experience before us. To be present to the experience and to be appropriate in our response. When the mind is centered and calm it is peaceful, poised, and empowered to timely respond, not react, or hurriedly overreact, to the experiences of life and living.

Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them as a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing the past or imagining the future.

Mindfulness is also the practice of conscious and active alignment with our guiding values, principles, and ideals. The practice of mindfulness keeps us aligned with what is true and good to us. It enables us to make choices and decisions that empower our values, ideals, intentions, and goals. It is the essential element to living consciously, with intention.

The practice of mindfulness can bring a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits. Here are some of the benefits as identified by UCLA Berkley - Greater Good / The Science of a Meaningful Life:

• Mindfulness is good for our bodies: Just eight weeks of practicing mindfulness meditation boosts our immune system's ability to fight off illness.
• Mindfulness is good for our minds:  Studies have found that mindfulness increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions, stress and maybe as good as antidepressants in fighting depression and preventing relapse.
• Mindfulness changes our brains: That it increases the density of gray matter in brain regions linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy.
• Mindfulness helps us focus: Studies suggest that mindfulness helps us avoid and tune out distractions, improves our memory and attention abilities.
• Mindfulness fosters compassion and altruism: Increases our experience and expression of our innate ability for empathy, compassion, and lovingkindness toward ourselves and others.
• Mindfulness enhances relationships: Makes couples more satisfied with their relationship, makes each partner feel more optimistic and relaxed and makes them feel more accepting of and closer to one another.
• Mindfulness helps schools: Teaching mindfulness in the classroom reduces behavior problems and aggression among students and improves their happiness levels and their ability to pay attention. Teachers trained in mindfulness also show lower blood pressure, less negative emotion and symptoms of depression, and greater compassion and empathy.
• Mindfulness helps health care practitioners cope with stress, connect compassionately with their patients, and improve their general quality of life. It also helps mental health professionals by reducing negative emotions and anxiety and increasing their positive emotions and feelings of self-compassion.
• Mindfulness helps prisons: Evidence suggests mindfulness reduces anger, hostility, and mood disturbances among prisoners by increasing their awareness of their thoughts and emotions, helping with their rehabilitation and reintegration.
• Mindfulness helps veterans: Studies suggest it can reduce the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of war.
• Mindfulness helps with general health and obesity: Practicing “mindful eating” encourages healthier eating habits, helps people lose weight and helps them savor the food they do eat.

Mindfulness enables us to explore our potential and possibility in the here, now, this. It is a way of releasing the hold of past thoughts and emotional patterns and consciously explore the infinite potential and possibility of each new now. Try this practice and see how easily and quickly the benefits described above come to you.
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Adapted from: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition

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Clive deLaporte
Spiritual Director
​Unity Magna Ministries