What Is Mindfulness, Really?

I used to think that mindfulness and meditation was all about finding inner peace. While partly true, the real practice can often times be really challenging, messy, and painful. The truth is, when you bring your full awareness to everything that is present, it allows room for all sides of ourselves to emerge - the light and the dark, the wild and crazy thoughts.

Then there’s the full range of emotions - anger, shame, uncertainty, fear, guilt, jealousy, in addition to joy, creativity, love, compassion. When we welcome all the thoughts and sensations to come visit us with open arms and non-judgment (as Rumi shares in his poem, The Guesthouse), we create a loving power within ourselves that’s expansive and free. In other words, we create the capacity to handle the ups and downs that life brings us with a greater sense of resilience, strength, and joy.

The Guest House by Rumi

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

***

If you are interested in feeling more free and alive, in mind and body, reach out to learn more. I’m currently opening up spots for 1:1 coaching. If you’re looking for a quick fix, it’s not for you. If you’re willing to dig deeper and go through the process of addressing your health and life challenges from the root level, then it might be a great opportunity to do so.

Zen Running: A Meditation Alternative for Beginners

I’m a big believer that anything can be a meditation if you approach it with the right mindset. I view meditation as a practice of developing attention and awareness in the present moment.

Growing up as an athlete and someone who struggled to sit still for even a minute, I’ve witnessed how progress is possible in something that at one point felt like a major challenge and scared me. As I’ve practiced over the years, I’ve become more comfortable with meditation. 

With any practice or habit that is part of my life, I often reflect on its benefit. Why do I do it in the first place? How is it helping me?

I want my life to flow with more ease and less stress. I want to regulate my emotions in a healthy way. I want to deepen my intuition and my focus. Meditation has helped improve all these areas of my life. 

So, then I ask, how do I find a meditative state of awareness throughout my day, as much as possible? 

Anything, like writing this, can be a practice of meditation if we approach it with the mindset of deep awareness. 

If you are struggling to find consistency with meditation, I’d like to share my current practice that I call zen running. 

How I do zen running:

• I go on a slow jog at a pace that I can maintain a calm breath rate (about 3 sec inhale & exhale)

• I breathe through my nostrils with my mouth closed

• I focus my awareness on the sights, sounds, and sensations I’m experiencing

• I don’t worry about distance, speed, or getting anywhere

• I run for an amount of time that feels good whether it’s 5 or 30 minutes

While most of my running and physical training history has focused on performance, this is quite the opposite. Like any practice, start with an amount of time that you are confident and excited to commit to. Then build up if you like.

The benefits I experience:

• Focusing on the breath allows me to be present

• Breathing slow improves the efficiency of my cardiovascular system

• Increasing awareness allows me to enjoy the sights and sounds in more detail

• Getting outdoors, especially in nature, boosts the immune system

• I’m able to mentally relax more since I’m not focused on making a certain time or distance 

• Great for an active recovery day since it’s less taxing on the body than a higher intensity workout

Give it a try. Let me know what you think!