Mindfulness Meditation
What is Mindfulness, besides an overused buzz-word?
John Kabat-Zin explains it as 'the awareness that arises by paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non judgmentally.' Christina Feldman calls it 'present moment recollection.' Essentially, it's the act of paying attention. The practice of Mindfulness, incorporates a non-judgmental awareness into this state of presence.
You don't have to be sitting on a meditation cushion to practice Mindfulness. It's a state of awareness that you can bring with you into all of your daily activities. The practice of sitting in Mindful meditation, however, makes bringing this type of awareness into life much more natural and automatic.
How can Mindfulness Meditation benefit me?
In addition to the multitude of proven benefits, including:
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Creating and improving a sense of wellbeing
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Improving cognition & memory
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Improving focus and concentration
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Reducing stress
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Reducing anxiety
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Preventing and treating depression
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Improving relationship with self and others
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Improving compassion, inner serenity and hardiness
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Improving emotional intelligence and self awareness
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Developing a connection to self
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Increasing empathy
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Removing the barriers of feeling separate & improves relationships
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Helping to shift mind to autopilot to conscious living – from doing mode to being mode
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Preventing mental time travel –keeps us out of past and future and helps us remain in the present moment
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Boosting resiliency
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Creating openness to new experiences – shifts us from negative/ avoidance oriented thought processes to positive/ approach oriented thought processes
Mindfulness has the power to bring us out of 'auto pilot mode' and allows us to live consciously. It affords us the power of choice and non-reactivity in our lives by giving us the opportunity to become our own witness. Besides merely observing our breath or our body parts, we can go further and become familiar with our experience, our reactions to our feelings and thoughts, as well as deeply rooted belief systems and thought patterns. Through this new awareness, we gain the power of choice to shift old ways of being that may no longer be serving us, that we would otherwise remain blind to.
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