The concept of Mindfulness is becoming more and more popular and we hear this word used just about everywhere now. Apparently mindfulness is good for our physical and mental well being and for all sorts of people and conditions: stress, anxiety, depression and addictions to name just a few. But what is it?
I recently taught yoga to a small group of adults at a project run by Mind and somebody there told me how useful he had found mindfulness techniques for coping with daily life. He recommended Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American scientist and clinician, who has written lots of books and developed CDs on the subject.
So I got hold of some of his CDs from Amazon and have been listening to them -there is a mindful body scan , a seated meditation with awareness of the breath and mindful movements.
Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as ‘paying attention on purpose moment by moment without judging.’ This is a fairly familiar concept in yoga where movement is often done mindfully, paying attention to breath and body and where there’s an emphasis on being non competitive-so it’s our own time and practice and it really doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing.
As well as listening to the CDs, I am trying to take time to SLOW DOWN and be more appreciative of small moments in life without constantly thinking about what I am going to do next or mentally ticking off things I have completed from a list.
I think a good example of mindfulness is the tea making in Morocco. When I got to visit Morocco over Easter, tea was always prepared and served in the same way. Mint tea was served in a silver teapot and poured into small, decorative glasses from a height. The idea of pouring it from a height is so you can admire the lovely colour of the amber liquid against the sunlight and also savour the smell before actually tasting it.
So this month at least I am trying to take the time to prepare my morning tea slowly and to appreciate the small moments in life.