Section 1: KNOWING
Mindfulness is usually practiced as an approach to SHIFT away from distraction. One of the things that we focus in the practice is to simply being aware in the present moment — one minute, two minutes .. .. when the distraction or any disturbance happens we just consciously notice the distraction and let your attention come back to where we are, in the present moment, doing the task again.
The Common Distractions?
Many people, especially the beginners who just started practicing mindfulness, feel disheartened and frustrated when they struggle to shut out the distractions of day to day life. They want a perfect session and a most conducive environment for practicing mindfulness. But there will always be distractions. Isn’t it.
Some common distractions practitioner’s face are mainly at three levels, Physical / Sensory Body level, Mental / Thoughts Head level or Emotional / Heart Level. Some examples are
Feeling Stiffness, pain in joints and/or
Feeling Sleepy or lethargic
Abrupt Emotions – negative and positive
Worrying about well-being of a loved one / member or family
Mental Pressure of your To-Do List or Daily Schedule / scarcity of time, time-management issues
Mental Processing of recent conversations or past events
How to Leverage Distractions for Practicing Mindfulness?
See distractions as an opportunity to practice Mindfulness. Start Accepting and Acknowledging them as friendly triggers. Use them as reminders to practice more deeply, consistently, even for longer duration.
And the purpose of mindfulness isn’t to rid your life of distractions or even to simply ignore them. The wisdom says why not make use of these distractions. The happier way is to use mindfulness to help manage our responses, diffuse thoughts and feelings to these distractions so that they don’t overwhelm the present moment.
When you feel yourself becoming distracted by thoughts or feelings, don't resist or ignore them. Simply PAUSE to acknowledge them, notice how they make you feel, then purposefully guide your attention back to your present moment, your present task or the Focus Point of your mindfulness session.
Excellence Tips for Experts: Start noticing how many times you get distracted and how long it took to get aware of distraction and to come back in the present moment/task.
If you are able to come back as quickly as you are distracted, cool, you are on the right track. But if you get attached to some distractions and carried away in the process for a longer duration. Be Mindful | You need more practice.
That means now distractions help us to set the BENCH MARK for assessing the QUALITY of our mindfulness session… You are using them correctly, making them a tool for growth. Say ThankYou!
Section 2: LEARNING (by Doing)
How to Practice Thought Watching Exercise for Mindfulness
Today we will LEARN about THOUGHT WATCHING EXERCISE. During this practice step we'll simple observe our thought process, use it as a medium to ground ourselves in the PRESENT MOMENT.
AWARENESS OF THOUGHTS
Thought watching is the practice of taking the time to become more fully aware of our non-stop train of thoughts with the goal of learning to diffuse them in ways that support us and facilitate our mindfulness practice. The first step is learning to just witness your thoughts without any judgment.
TASK#5: Start by settling into a comfortable position and allow your eyes to close or keep them open with a softened gaze. Begin by taking several long slow deep breaths breathing in fully and exhaling fully. RELAX. Allow your breath to find its own natural rhythm. Settle in the most comfortable Posture.
Start watching all the thoughts that comes to your mind.
Start noticing them and if they try to go inside your process - give them a virtual token number. If your mind/thoughts ask ‘why these numbering’ just inform them that you will give these thoughts due importance, but after the Mindfulness session, and will call them when you’re free from your priorities. :)
Numbering/Labeling thoughts in this way can help you acknowledge distractions without getting caught up in them.
(Usually these thoughts will never come back)Continue your Mindfulness Practice of Thought Watching
Do not try to Control the flow of thoughts. Be a silent watcher. Like a passenger standing on a platform, and a train passing without stopping. We are just a Silent Observer. Similarly Don’t follow the train of thoughts - Just Be Mindful
Are you Getting the Point? We are a just a onlooker :)
So now we are being in awareness of thoughts, its flow, and know how to handle/ignore them with a OPEN ONLOOKER Mindset.
Let’s DO IT NOW | Take a PAUSE from reading and Practice it now.
BE MINDFUL | Keep your Attention & Awareness on Breathing Process
Section 3: UNDERSTANDING
The purpose of mindfulness isn’t to rid of distractions from work/life or even to simply ignore them. The wisdom says why not make use of these distractions for our benefit. The happier way is to use mindfulness to help manage THE SHIFT in the Mindset. Changing our reactions, thoughts and feelings to these distractions so that they don’t overwhelm the present moment.
Using distractions to inform your mindfulness practice can help you strengthen and improve your mindfulness skills.
Lots of practitioners feel that they have ‘failed’ if they get distracted during mindfulness sessions. But distractions are an inevitable part of everyday life and learning to manage them, (by giving them priority label/number) is part of the process of becoming more mindful.
Quote of the Day:
Whenever mind suffers from a fear of death and your practice turns to see impermanence, the ego (mind) settles down. To achieve NoMind state of being, Practice Mindfulness :)
BE EXPRESSIVE | BE ENERGETIC | BE EVOLVED | BE YOU
Write down your Reflections / your observations for clarity.
If you can complete these First Five Tasks - the 5 Steps shared so far, successfully, you can do anything in life/work, if you divide that task into simple, smaller steps. Celebrate the Sustainable Success. SHARE IT with others.
Thanks for your PRECIOUS time and POSITIVE energy
Be Happy & Abundant Always | Enjoy Your LIFE
Gopi Krishan Bali :)
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