This month we learn that mindfulness is the basic tool for a joyful life. This word is brandished a lot in our culture, but often gets misunderstood. Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different. It is a fearless and full presence with what is.
Mindfulness is the underpinning for all other practices in invoking joy because:
1) mindfulness has the unique quality of strengthening all wholesome states of mind and weakening all unwholesome states
2) mindfulness can be used to amplify states of well-being; by bringing attention to wholesome states, the feeling of gladness increases.
Wholesome States-->lead to happiness Unwholesome States-->lead to unhappiness
generosity greed
kindness anger
clarity confusion
According to psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson you can store and emphasize positive experiences through mindfulness by allowing the experience to register in our memory, which slowly changes the landscape of our mind. He outlines three simple steps:
1) Pay attention to the good things, both in your world and inside yourself. Allow yourself to feel pleasure fully and vividly.
2) Keep your attention on the feeling of pleasure so it lingers; let it fill your body with positive sensations and emotions.
3) Sense the positive experience is soaking into your body and brain, registering deeply in emotional memory. Take about 10-20 seconds, continuously relaxing your body and absorbing the positive experience.
So how do we practice mindfulness? In an excellent article, long-time Buddhist practitioner Jack Kornfield explains the four principles for mindful transformation, known by the the acronym RAIN:
1) RECOGNITION - we step out of denial and acknowledge the reality of experience here and now.
2) ACCEPTANCE - we relax and open to what is.
3) INVESTIGATION - we see deeply by examining our body, feelings, and mind.
4) NONIDENTIFICATION - We stop taking the experience as me or mine.
Lastly, here are some daily life mindfulness exercises:
1) When your computer is booting up, use the time to take a few mindful breaths
2) When you're waiting in line, use it as a mindfulness period. Remember you are alive, feel your body and take a few mindful breaths.
3) Before you eat, stop and reflect on how the food got to be in front of you. Give thanks for the food and take the first bit mindfully.
4) Take a regular chore - like washing the dishes or making your bed - and make it a game to see how mindful you can be.
5) Whenever you think of it, stop and take three mindful breaths and feel your body.
