The Exploration of Mindfulness and Meditation

In our every day lives, we are all guilty offoot, focusing on it from a position above
neglecting our minds, allowing our brains to beourselves. Then move up the body slowly, left
lulled into a lazy, neglected, and unaware state. Itankle, knee, thigh and so on. When reaching your
is as if we are allowing ourselves to be sculptedhead, you then do the same in reverse on the
by bland and repetitive consumerism, ourother side of the body: right shoulder, right elbow,
individuality being chiselled away by a tedium weright hand and so on.
cannot even be bothered to challenge with anyOnce you have completed your tour of your own
will.body, as if you were someone else examining it,
Life need not be like that. We are each blessedthen it is time to open your eyes and increase
with a powerful mind; but normally people haveyour mindfulness of your surroundings.
forgotten or, most likely, never even knew how,To do this, focus on any object in the room; it
to use it. It is such a waste of our own greatestdoes not have to be anything special: a cup on
resource.the coffee table, a vase, a plastic flower, anything.
One way to start to extricate ourselves from theTry to maintain that focus for half a minute, and
mindless quicksand is to gently exercise ourthen move on to any other object. You can
minds, using mindfulness and meditation as a wayrepeat this several times, always maintaining a
of bringing ourselves more emphatically into thefocus on your own body and your own breathing,
real world, and start the process of exercisingcreating a triple harmony with each object on
control over our minds and our lives.which you focus.
Creating a mindfulness meditation is a gentle butBy using this simple mindfulness meditation you
powerful exercise. But how do you go about it?are increasing awareness both of yourself and
A Simple Mindfulness Meditation Exerciseyour surroundings, in a very gentle and easy way.
As with any meditation session, you need to getIt can serve as a prelude to some mental task,
into a relaxed and comfortable position, eyesas well as being part of an ongoing mindfulness
closed, and then commence with deep nasalcampaign to strengthen and expand the use of
breathing, focusing your thoughts on the breathingyour own mind.
to ease yourself into a meditative state.For example, most days I write, but sometimes I
Once you feel that you are calmed by yourjust do not seem able to concentrate on what I
breathing and that your breath is under youram supposed to be writing about. I find this type
rhythmic control, then you can move on toof exercise, even just for 10 minutes, will snap
focusing on your own body, a part at a time. Ime out of that inexplicable malaise, and I can get
was first taught this at yoga class, where weright on and write what I should have written
were taught to concentrate first of all on the leftearlier.