Rockman Said Meditations and Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the mindful movement of attention and being in touch with the present moment. It is essential to cultivate mindfulness as it is the basis for happiness and well-being. It can be practiced daily and combines both mental and physical components of attention. The concept is straightforward: you focus on your breath, taking in the sights and sounds around you, becoming aware of the emotions you experience in your body, and letting go of old beliefs and thoughts so you can move into new and more fulfilling state of being. A retreat is a healing, mind-body journey, and it can be undertaken by anyone. However, Mindfulness is not something you can learn and then be on your own – you need guidance and direction from an experienced teacher or organization to make it meaningful.
A Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBS) is a powerful eight-week proven method that provides intensive mindfulness therapy to help people with chronic stress, depression, pain and anxiety. It brings a mindful awareness to everyday life, opening up painful feelings, and replacing them with loving kindness. With consistent practice, clients improve their self-awareness and emotional intelligence, their cognitive functioning, their relationships and health, and their quality of life. They are able to experience true freedom from depression, pain and anxieties.
Mindfulness cultivates a sense of connectedness, which is necessary for experiencing and moving toward a state of peace and calmness. Practicing Mindfulness allows you to pay attention to the present moment without judging it or wasting time thinking about what is or what has not occurred. Mindfulness does not involve trying to escape or forget anything, however. Instead, it encourages you to notice and respond to the sensations, thoughts and activities going on around you. Practitioners describe Mindfulness as letting go of worry and tension, unhurriedness and boredom, and an openness to let go of physical sensation and emotion.
There are many forms of Mindfulness, and a few popular ones are mindfulness meditation, mindfulness walking, and mindfulness eating. Mindfulness practices can be very similar or extremely different from each other, depending upon the type of person practicing, the focus of the practice, and the goal of the practice. Mindfulness is defined by the late Canadian author and actor Wayne Gretzky as “a quietude about everything, with all aspects of life functioning as a whole.” Like the rockman said: “To be in complete awareness, neither heard nor seen.”
The benefits of mindful breathing include increased oxygen consumption and decreased carbon dioxide absorption, reduced blood pressure, enhanced immunity and improved sleep. When you pay attention to your breath, you are more aware of what you are doing and how you are feeling at any given moment. Mindfulness helps you focus your attention on the moment, thus improving your ability to control your emotions and behavior. Another great benefit of meditation is that it teaches you to become more open to changes that may occur naturally in your life. Mindfulness also helps you learn to release negative energy and embrace positive change. Being open to changes, both good and bad, allows you to work with these changes positively, instead of trying to fight them.
Learning to practice mindfulness through guided meditation, yoga, meditation, or other forms of mindful exercises does not require you to meditate alone or in isolation. In fact, you may meditate with other people from your family, friends, or co-workers. Mindfulness gives you the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. One of my favorite forms of mindfulness is laughter. Laughing helps me to relax, to let go of anxiety and stress, to take a deeper breath, to observe my breath and my body, to feel my emotions, to clear my mind of worry, and to slow down. You can practice a form of mindfulness anywhere, anytime.