“What you practice grows stronger.”
Research from Harvard indicates the mind wonders 47% of the time.
- That is nearly half of our lives that we are missing.
- That we are “not here.”
Part of Mindfulness is simply training the mind in how to be “here,” where we already are.
- Allow your eyes to close
- Feel your feet on the floor
- Sense your whole body sitting here
- Softening the face; the jaw
- Notice that you are breathing
- Feeling the breath as it naturally flows in and out of the body
- Just being here
What we practice grows stronger, because our repeat experiences shape our brain.
- When you look at the brains from meditators, the areas related to attention, learning, and compassion grow bigger and stronger
- called cortical thickening
Mindfulness isn’t just about paying attention; it’s about how we pay attention.
- With kindness – like loving arms that welcome everything
- even the messy and imperfect parts of yourself
We are practicing all the time (moment by moment), not just when we are meditating, but with every moment. We are growing in every moment.
- So the question becomes, “What do you want to grow?” “What do you want to practice?”
Mindfulness strengthens our immune system, decreases stress, decreases cortisol, and helps us sleep better.
Re-source: Recondition
Shame is universal, we all feel it.
- This underline sense of “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not okay,” “I’m not living this life right” is tremendous self-judgement and shame.
- What is worse is that we this mistaken belief that if we shame ourselves (beat ourselves up), we can somehow improve.
Shame Doesn’t Work!
- It can’t work, because when we feel shame, the centers in the brain that have to do with growth and learning shut down.
- Shame literally robs the brain of the energy it needs to do the work of changing.
- When we feel shame, we want to avoid it, so we hide from those parts of ourselves that we are ashamed of – the parts that most need out attention.
Kind Attention is the alternative.
- Kindness gives us the courage to look at the part of ourselves we don’t want to see and gives us the resources we need to change.
- True and lasting transformation requires kind attention
Mindfulness isn’t just about attention, it is about kind attention.
- It is an essential part of the practice; a part that is so often overlooked.
- All three parts of attitude, intention, and attention synergistically work together.
- Mindfulness is paying attention with kindness.
We lose more veterans to suicide each year than to actual combat. (Our soldiers carry so much pain and shame)
- It is important to carry kind attention, especially for the unforgivable parts of ourselves.
Transformation is possible for all of us. It requires kind attention, not shame. This kind attention takes lots of practice.
- Say “I love you every day.”
- If that seems hard, start just by saying good morning to yourself.
- Try putting your hand over your heart as you do it.
- The advanced practice is doing all three at once.
- A pathway of kind attention can be established and grow stronger every day.
craving and resource from – TEDx- “The Power of Mindfulness” – What you practice grows stronger – by Shauna Shapiro