Finding the blue sky

One of the best ways I discovered to explain and understand mindfulness is the analogy about hopping a train. I learned this from a mindfulness teacher and it made sense to me. When a negative thought pops up in your mind and you begin thinking about it, diving deeper and deeper into it which then causes you more anxiety and worry, it's kind of like you just jumped on a train and you're heading down in a direction that is dark, that brings you to a place no one wants to travel to. Mindfulness is about awareness and coming back to the breathe, to your senses, to help bring you back to the present moment. We're often thinking about the past or anticipating the future - we're often anywhere but this present moment. Mindfulness is about realizing that you jumped on a train heading back to the past which can be hard and filled with difficult memories or heading to the future which can be uncertain and scary. It's about making a conscious choice to get off and bring yourself back to where you are right now - in the "here and now".

So where do you begin? How do you create this awareness and learn how to come back? Given that mindfulness is the ability to come back to the present moment, practicing mindfulness over time allows you to become more aware of your emotions. Naming them, recognizing what it is you are actually experiencing in your body. One misconception about meditation and mindfulness is that if you're thinking of other things as you try breathing and being in the moment, then you're not really good at it. It's actually normal. It's about looking at your thoughts with curiosity, instead of judgement. Acknowledging it's there ("I'm thinking about...") but then coming back to your breath which connects you to your body and your senses. Breathing through your nose and out through your mouth. Focusing on this moment, but not pushing away what might come up. It's just not choosing to stay with the thought, not over-identifying with it (after all, we are not our stress) - name it for what it is (a thought or a feeling) and not running away with it or ruminating.

Some of the most useful ways to begin to explore mindfulness and meditation is to:

-Join a meditation class

-Watch videos or use a website or app dedicated to teaching and practicing mindfulness (Headspace.com is one example, and has become a key part of my daily practice)

-Read a book on mindfulness

-Find one activity in your daily life to practice being mindful (such as brushing your teeth, taking a shower, practicing mindful walking)

-Chose one "alert" to serve as a reminder to you in your daily life to take a few deep breathes (for example, everytime the phone rings or when you hear the sound of the kettle boiling)

-Mindful self-compassion (MSC) is another practice that I've found incredibly useful. We are definitely our worst critics. Exploring and practicing mindful self-compassion can help you to cultivate self-compassion skills and learn to be kinder to yourself when you are experiencing difficult situations or emotions

Mindfulness allows me to look at my world through a different lens. To be more focused in my day-to-day life and more connected to those around me and what they call in MSC "common humanity", the shared human experience. What does it (or could it potentially) do for you?