“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do. Nothing comes ahead of its time, and nothing ever happened that didn’t need to happen- Life doesn’t happen to us, it happens for us!”
Love is not something we get or even give – it is what we ARE. In Reality, there is nothing else. The love we seek is at our very center, awaiting activation through our kindness. Love is simple and uncomplicated. Relationships are often not so simple because of the complicated stories we tell, our expectations, and the ego tendency to gather up evidence which fortifies our grievances. But Love itself is extremely simple, simple, simple. You could boil it down to two words, be kind.
Most people these days are stressed out by the fast pace of life, economy, and worries about the future. Most people would be much happier and healthier if they knew how to slow down and live in the moment. Mindfulness is an internal resource that all of us already have within us. The idea is to channel or direct this resource to transform our relationships with stress, emotions, pain, and illness. Not being aware of the mechanics of your inner state is like falling asleep while driving at high speeds – becoming aware gives you the power to retake responsibility and to choose happiness and peace over the vicious control dramas of the ego.
Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. 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. You cannot find yourself in the past or future. The only place where you can find yourself in the NOW Mindfulness allows us to be fully present, attending to the moment, deeply engaged and yet at peace.
While most people seem to think that mindfulness is a good thing, many people are confused about what exactly mindfulness is. Does it involve emptying the brain of thoughts, inducing relaxation, or going into a trance? Do you have to go live in an ashram and retreat from the material world to practice it effectively? Is it a kind of religion or cult, and is it potentially dangerous? In fact, none of the above has been shown to be true.
Mindfulness is the ability to live life more fully aware of what’s going on both around us and in our minds. Through that awareness, we become more familiar with our ongoing mental habits. That awareness increases our ability to pick and choose (without expecting total success) which ones to continue and from which we might step back at any moment
Studies have confirmed that:-
Mindfulness is good for our bodies as it boosts our immune system’s ability to fight off illness.
Mindfulness is good for our minds because it increases positive emotions while reducing negative emotions and stress.
Mindfulness changes our brain, since it increases density of grey matter in brain regions linked to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and empathy.
Mindfulness helps us focus by tuning out distractions and improving our memory and attention skills.
Mindfulness fosters compassion and altruism making us more likely to help someone in need
Mindfulness enhances relationships by making each partner feel more optimistic and relaxed, and enabling them feel more accepting of and closer to one another.
Developing an observing mind that, watches your own daily experiences, notices your automatic patterns, and gently redirects your attention to the present moment is the beginning of growing a “mindfulness muscle” to help you navigate the winds of change and stresses in your life. As Eckhart Tolle said: ‘Always say “yes” to the present moment. Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life—and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.’
NAMASTE.
By locating the mind’s pause button we can come to know the voice that resides deep within us. This voice is the ultimate guide. It’s our intuition, timeless wisdom, and the voice of our heart. It always knows what’s best for us because it’s our greatest supporter, most attentive lover and dearest friend. What it has to tell us is more important than anything we could ever learn from the outside world – Sasha Manes
“For most of us, a typical day involves hurrying from task to task, forgetting that there are other possibilities for us. Even a tiny bit of mindfulness, brought to any moment, can wake us up, thus subverting the momentum of doing for at least one moment — and that’s all we need to be concerned about. We don’t have to stop what we are doing. We simply bring greater moment-to-moment, non-judging, wise awareness to our unfolding moments. The solution to our mood problems may not require heroic attempts to change our inner feeling world or the outer world of people, places, and jobs. Rather, it may simply involve a shift in the way we pay attention to all of them.” — Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindal Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, “The Mindful Way Through Depression”
“When we find ourselves caught up in the compelling and complex inner screen of our mind, we need to remember that we have an option. We can shrink or ‘minimize’ the current screen down to a small icon on the bottom of the mind-screen and open up the serene blue sky of our inherently boundless, clear mind. A few thoughts drift across the screen, like wispy white clouds. We are lifted above the narrow world of ‘I, me, and mine’ to a place of serenity. The small icon of our worries and plans can be opened up whenever we wish.” — Jan Chozen Bays, How to Train a Wild Elephant, and Other Adventures in Mindfulness
“We use the word ‘practice’ to describe the cultivation of mindfulness, but it is not meant in the usual sense of a repetitive rehearsing to get better and better so that a performance or a competition will go as well as possible. Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to being present. There is no ‘performance.’ There is just this moment. We are not trying to improve or to get anywhere else. We are not even running after special insights or visions. Nor are we forcing ourselves to be non-judgmental, calm, or relaxed. And we are certainly not promoting self-consciousness or indulging in self-preoccupation. Rather, we are simply inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Identification is what gives thoughts and emotions the power to take you over – because you believe they are who you are. Awareness that frees you from identification with any thought or emotional form it separates you from the thought or emotion. When you become aware of a thought or emotion in this way, you see these thoughts and emotions are not you. They becomes forms that you are simply aware of. This removes your identification with them, and they weaken and disappear by themselves. Once you lose your identification with thought and emotional forms you feel the inner peace that is within the awareness of what you are.
The Voice of Silence 