Mindfulness
There are three mental states which comprise the psychological process termed mindfulness, these are: acceptance,awareness and being present. In psychology, mindfulness is not a type of therapy per se. It is rather a way of approaching emotional struggles. Nowadays, humanistic psychologists and cognitive therapists are adopting it more and more, with the purpose of guiding clients through a different way of perceiving suffering.
This need - of changing people’s outlook on emotional-pain - emerged from the realisation that individuals in many societies (mainly in the west) live in an incessant search for happiness and emotional safety. Aspects that drive them towards an existence of craving what they don’t have, and grasping what they do have. Aspects that also propel people to seek approval, success and possessions; which in turn make them fear losing what they have and continuously compare themselves to others.
Origins
I trust that many of you know this realisation is not a new thing, as it was something Siddhārtha Gautama (the Buddha) became aware of when he, according to the story, left his sheltered, pampered life of a prince over 2,500 years ago. Outside the walls of the wealthy palace where he and his family lived in; as a young man, he saw for the first time things such as a woman crippled by old age and people incapacitated by bodily illnesses. After witnessing all this suffering he could no longer return to his old way of living. He then, through meditating 7 days under a tree, had an ‘awakening’ which brought him the understanding of the transitory nature of life, and of its inherit suffering.
Of course, the accuracy of this story may be called into question. Nonetheless, the message it conveys is one that addresses the very issues still seen nowadays: People try to protect themselves in their ‘palaces’ from the things they fear, where they also develop an ‘adoration’ for their achievements and a desire for more. This message also leads to the idea that lies at the core of the Buddha’s teachings, which is:
to live a life where we directly engage with suffering instead of trying to avoid itMindfulness delivers the means to this through its three main elements:
Acceptance
First of all, I would like you to recall the last time you felt sad or anxious. How did you approach that emotion? Did you try to distract yourself from it, or did you accepted it?
As I am writing this down I decided to embark on this moment of reflection with you: So, last time I felt low, I just went straight to my computer to get some work done while listening to some calming music. Not only that, whenever my frustration revisited my thoughts I criticized myself for feeling irritated.
Now, within the mindfulness mindset this only makes us feel worse. And the explanation as to why this is the case is a fascinating one, in my opinion. The logic behind this explains that whenever people are afflicted by anguish what they do is to focus on the gap that separates them from how they feel/are and how they would like to feel/be. This is a situation in which craving takes places: the craving for feeling (or being) the opposite of how they feel (or are).
How to address this
The way mindfulness addresses such distress is through acceptance. Using my case as an illustration (very easy in retrospect) this would have gone like this:
In order to not distract myself from my frustration, I would have taken a moment in which I fully acknowledged my stress : what caused it, how it made my body react and how it disrupted my emotions. From there I should have expanded my acknowledgment of that entire moment. How? By making a effort to tell myself that there was more to that moment than my anguish, by understanding that that moment was not defined only by my frustrations, but also by my breathing, my heart beat, the slight discomfort in my lower back, the moving trees that I could see through the window and so forth.
The idea behind this is that through accepting one’s difficult feelings and ‘giving’ them the space to exist as a component of the whole experience they don’t become overwhelming and one doesn’t feel entrapped by them.
Being Present
As I move on to the second element of mindfulness - being present – I realise that as I am typing these words, every now and then my thoughts drift away imagining what kind of images I am going to choose for this post “cartoon? Yes, I love using cartoons for my Steemit posts. It makes them less serious.” Also, I remembered that when I was making dinner yesterday I was also thinking of work. And now that I am reflecting on this, it feels as if I don’t spend much time fully in the present moment. Hum ...
Mindfulness, however, is a practice that requires us to bring ourselves to the present moment. But it doesn’t stop there, it also tells us why this alternative way of experiencing life has favourable outcomes. This is a notion that I find not only useful, but also quite smart; especially when dealing with sadness.
I have already pointed out the notion that people don’t always allow themselves to “feel their feelings” (the painful ones in particular). What they do instead is to elaborate stories to make sense of the feelings; with this, they inevitably bring a load of events from the past and even venture predicting the future. All that just to come up with an explanation that can help them to get rid of their pain.
I suppose a good example to illustrate this is the familiar scenario where a guy or girl is rejected by someone they have been dating for a while. You can imagine all the explanations they resort to in order to avoid the dilacerating rejection.
The way to deal with this
Mindfulness suggests an alternative way to this approach, and that is, ‘be with the pain’; because only through this one can fully comprehend it. Not the causes of it, but the pain itself: how it churns one’s stomach, how it makes one’s heart sink etc... in this way what once was a bitter sensation, becomes an unpleasant memory; which although still painful is something that you have faced and, therefore, is more familiar to you; which, in turn, makes it less frightening.
Awareness
The third element of mindfulness, awareness, enlightens us about the importance of returning to the present moment. As this is a notion that puts forward the concept that the more we fail to fully experience the present moment, the more we are carried out by those feelings that we suppress, by those automatic thoughts that keep coming back and sometimes drag us down to a path towards sadness and anxiety.
In other words, this tells us that through not attending to the present one can easily end up in a state of despair without quite knowing how one got there.
In short, it says that when people engage with whatever the present moment has to offer without attempting to avoid it, or get rid of it they ‘tune in’ and become ‘aware’ of themselves, and are, therefore, less carried away by damaging, negative thoughts.
Meditation
The aforementioned psychological processes (acceptance, being present and awareness) are not exactly easy for people to put into place. As it requires a certain level of alertness - about oneself as well as the present moment - that simply goes against the auto-pilot mode under which we function most of the time. Some psychologists, actually, consider this to be one of the limitations of mindfulness.
However, for those who actually are willing to apply the three elements of mindfulness to their lives; meditation delivers the means to make them a natural strategy for not only coping with difficult emotions, but also with fully engaging with those good moments in life that sometimes we are too distracted to notice.
My personal view of meditation, or mindfulness for that matter, is not aligned with any particular faith. Rather, I see it as a way to regulate the process of attention through focusing on something - either one’s breathing or a candle flame. But, there are several techniques’ available, and long-term practise meditation is associated with: less distress in the presence of pain, significant reductions in blood pressure and reduced levels of cortisol. This happens due to the change of activity in parts of the brain such as the pain matrix, the parasympathetic branch of the ANS (autonomic nervous system) and the pre-frontal cortex.
The more one practices meditation changes in connection patterns between neurons are expected to occur (this is an example of plasticity); also, less mental effort is involved. Therefore helping all the psychological processes we discussed before come more natural to us even in moments of frustration. Basically, helping them become our natural way of coping with emotional distress.
Criticism
Those who criticise mindfulness are mainly against the notion of acceptance. They argue that through encouraging people to remain in a given situation this idea stops them from fighting for change.
I disagree with this; particularly when I see this through the lens of mental-well being. Over and over again life throws at us situations that simply cannot be changed. For example, the loss of a loved one, or maybe even a break-up where there is no going back. What approach would you say is a healthier one for someone going through such experiences?
Personally, the only fight for change I would encourage here is that of how one deals with a particular kind of distress. Through the conscious effort of understanding that either sadness or fear is only part of one’s entire moment and existence, that pain becomes less overwhelming indeed.
[Original Content by Abigail Dantes - 2018]
Reference list:
Hayes, S. (2005) Get out of your mind and into your life, Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Lutz, A., Slagter, H.A., Dunne, J.D. and Davidson, R.J (2008) ‘Cognitive-emotional interactions – attention regulation and monitoring in meditation’, Trends in Cognitive Science, vol. 12, pp 163-9.
Newberg, A.B. and Iversen, J. (2003) ‘The neural basis of the complex mental task of meditation: neurotransmitter and neurochemical considerations’, Medical Hipotheses, vol. 61, pp 282-91.
Schneider, R.H., Staggers, F., Alexander, C.N., Sherpard, W. Rainforth, M., Kondwani, K. Et al. (1995) ‘A randomized controlled trial of stress reduction for hypertension in older African Americans’, Hypertension, vol. 26, pp 820-7.
Dear Reader,
This week I have some homework for you 😊
I would like you to please time three minutes on your alarm clock, sit comfortably, close your eyes; then, try to focus on your breathing. Whenever your thoughts drift away bring them back to your breathing pattern. It is very likely that this will be what the whole three minutes will be about. But it will still be a good way of exercising focus.
Now, how would you describe that experience? Did the three minutes last forever? Or, were you so engrossed in the moment that, next thing, your alarm went off!?
I am really curious to hear how you did!
As always, thank you so much for reading my post. It means the world to me 💓
It is really nice to read clever post about mindfulness. It is very important in our life and it is always about balance! I do not like the bad PR that mindfulness has today- it is because of people who made product from it. They all miss the main point in the whole idea, I think. Returning to the present moment is for me the clue for human being. We usually forget about it. Thanks for posting this. It gives me hope that people will undestand someday how important topic it is!
I also agree with your statement about acceptace. Only acceptance can lead us to Change. We really need to know what we need to change. I do not like pushing People to change something. Sometimes healthy acceptance solves the problem.
From my perspective acceptance is the begining of the journey in diffrent cases. Recently, I wrote about Gender dysphoria and I see that acceptance of the state of affairs is the beginning for hormonal therapy and psychotherapy. Living in denial makes patient suffer, sometimes without knowing the reason for his suffering. Acceptance (very painful) brings a new beginning and allows to move in a new direction - it is important not only in mindfulness.
Nowadays, people try to convince themselves that they can do anything. For those less conscious, believing in this brings an unbounded amount of suffering. Accepting that you can not do everything, lets see how much you can. "everything" This is a vague, meaningless concept in this case.
I firstly encountered zen meditation then I learn about mindfulness which originates from it. There is also some critique of mindfulness from Buddhists community. Mainly that it's used often to "become happy" or "become a better worker" and that it's deprived of and, actually, sometimes used in a completely contradiction of the original source with it's ethics and morality. If someone uses mindfulness to be a mindful jerk or a mindful tyrannical boss - I don't want meditation to serve such goals. Another thing is that for example beeing present may be used as an escape of thinking about your problems "ok, I'll just focus on my breath/washing dishes/etc".
I personally don't know what to think about this. I think mindfulness could be great, but it should be thought pretty careful and by very well trained people. I also think that it should not be sold as "happiness pill" or anything like that. Even Buddhists say that meditation is not really for everyone and sometimes it can even cause mental problems (e.g. for schizophrenics). You can discover pretty nasty things about youself, life or world while meditating. If you meditate for 20 minutes a day and then you come back to work, wandering about useless stuff it's not enough. This business thing is also quite sleazy and seems to suffer many pathologies. "Evidence is also emerging of underqualified teachers presenting themselves as mindfulness experts", some of them may have even more life problems than the participants, but hey, they finished five-months paid course so they are "entitled" to teach mindfulness. I think that's a very bad way to spread meditation. In buddhist societies, you have to have a really balanced life & healthy, settled mind to become a teacher and it takes years to become one. It's also free in most zen societies to learn meditation and take part in meditating sessions (most of participants pay small donation, but they are usually volountary).
Despite doubts, I think it's still good that zen meditation somehow transplanted to western culture. You may even say that mindfulness is some kind of "novajana" since, buddhism transplanted to different cultures always merged with them, so that now it merged with western, rational and secular way of thinking.
Two comments. I was saying this earlier this week about Steve Jobs. Says he gained a lot from mindfulness but he used it for his own selfish purposes and was known to be an asshole. The second comment is that in terms of spreading the knowledge of these practices this is why I go to places that practice dhana which means "generosity" or "donation-based." I do not feel comfortable with all the boutique places that are springing up everywhere they are very exclusive. And don't even get me started on yoga :)
If I recall correctly, Mr. Jobs, upon his deathbed, lamented the fact that he had misused his talents and knowledge, and had missed the mark entirely. He regretted he had neglected the most important of all things: to love more fully.
Did you read this in a book or was it in the movie, or any other source you could point me to I would like to read/watch whatever. I didn't see the movie.
I caught it online one day, probably about a year ago. I'll see if I can find it. If so I'll bring it to your attention.
Well, apparently he didn't say those things. I just found it in snoops. Link attached. Bummer.https://www.snopes.com/steve-jobs-deathbed-speech/
Thank you for looking. In any case, got me curious to see the film now :)
You good coment
Thank you so much for this comment @smashedturtle :)
I was particularly drawn to the part you say people convince themselves they can do anything. I would love to hear more about what you have to say on this particular subject. Do you mean this is something stops people from accepting who they are?
I believe that there is a fine line on this sort of approach; and finding that balance between understanding our own limitations and accepting them without feeling down about them is definitely where the challenge is.
I really appreciate you taking the time to share your reflection with us. I will definitely check your post on gender dysphoria.
All the best!
What I mean is that people tell themselves that they can do anything because of ta i things.
That is why we have people in social media who post a lot of food, gym, free time. Sometimes The content shouts: look I do everything and everything is sooo special when I am doing this.
I think we ( humans ) should learn more about ourselves and accept it. Limitations give us shape! And it is very beautiful.
Thanks. I try to write about sexology more often. New post is coming. I find it necessary to talk about this. It helps to open mind in very diffrent ways
Oh! What a beautiful insight @smashedturtle :)
Thank you for taking the time to draw our attention to this. There is so much true in what you just said :)
I am following you.
Best.
This sounds exactly like what Thich Nhat Hanh says about investigating our pain so we can apply the correct remedy.
wow.. great article, thankyou
Thank you, Abby. My old friend would say, "This is real something". First of all, the way I am so aware of my feelings all the time, I often wonder if I am not a nut case. I am always watching my emotions very closely. Perhaps it is for that reason that I am always in a hurry to get back to happiness whenever I leave it even for a moment. But I was not always like that. When I was younger, I spent most of my life in a form of sleep, allowing events of my life just pass as a continuous collage without paying attention and without any exertion from myself. But losing a couple of loved ones seemed to wake me up. But that was not the kind of awakening I needed. My thoughts were completely sad. I am the kind of person that liked rationalizing things so this rationalization helped me to make peace with their loss.
When I achieved that, I deliberately replaced thoughts of sadness with thoughts of the incredible quality times I spent with them and how we could not have made better use of our time together like we did. With time, I was able to smile whenever I thought of them. This does not have anything to do with your post but the point is that I learned acceptance and the process never left me. Whenever I feel sad, I try to ascertain the reason I am sad. Did I mess up? Did someone else mess up? So why do I feel bad about it? Most times, what it takes is for me to take full responsibility for the events that led to my sadness, accept the sadness as a consequence of my actions and inaction, forgive the other party and let it go. This technique has worked wonders for me.
For instance, there was a time I had a bad breakup and there was nothing I could do to move on from the hurt I had received from the other person. I kept playing it over my mind how I did not deserve the way I had been treated and how I deserved more until I came across an article that said I was responsible for myself and my happiness, therefore if someone else made me sad, it was my fault and that I should swallow that bitter pill, take full responsibility and forgive myself, then forgive the other person and wish them well. As soon as I did these things, I felt much better than I had felt in months. It appears that I am determined to plague you with things that are unrelated to your post today but you are my friend and you have to take it.
As I said in a comment somewhere, true suffering is just immediate craving for things that we cannot have now. As you said, this craving is a disease that is endemic to modern life. There is constant craving for bigger cars, bigger houses, making good grades, getting a good job, meeting sales target, surpassing sales target. As Shawn Achor (Yes I love that guy) said,
In my opinion, this is the major reason why we find it difficult to be present. I like that your drifting mind is just because of little things like where to find cartoon for your steemit post. Most people are never in the present and their thoughts are on things they have no control over. I have difficulty in being present too. Attempt to do the meditation exercise you gave felt like forever and my mind kept drifting from my heartbeat to the stuff I need to write on steemit, to what I should eat for dinner and many other trivial things. I am certain that I need to improve on being present. I should have been better at it because my mom always told me.
Finally, let me just say that I agree with you that acceptance does not equate staying in one place. Acceptance, in my opinion would enable a person to move on from a painful experience.
I looked forward to your post and you did not disappoint. I can't guarantee that the thoughts in my comment will make any sense to you but they are my thoughts. Thanks, Abby.
I am not quite sure why you say that my dear @churchboy. Actually, I am very grateful that you have, once more, contributed for this debate with this topic. Lately, I have been approached by quite a few people who have both been through a break up and lost a loved one and are struggling to move on. You see, they just don't want to accept the situation!
What you said is so true. One just needs that moment of realization; but, I just feel that to get there one needs to step back from feeling so bitter about everything. Also like you said, one has to take responsibility for their own feelings. And one of the reasons I love your comment so much is because you are sharing with us your own experience while also being honest that it was not exactly easy, but that you were brave enough to go through the difficult phase in order to achieve peace.
Like when you said :
This is so realistic, and I am sure everyone reading your words can related to this state of mind. However, it is hopeful and you have kindly told others here that their pain is not going to last forever. Even when they decide to face it!
I am so grateful to you for taking the time to do the homework. That is something I try to engage with everyday. On days when I feel inspired I even try 5 minutes. Of course, those who are expert on meditation and adopt it as part of a faith would not say this is enough. However, from a neuropsychological point of view it is an invaluable exercise for the brain to practice focus and attention. I think this is also useful in life because it aids us to tune in also to the good moments. I see that when one is aware of the good moments when the bad ones come along they seem more manageable.
I am very glad to hear your opinion about acceptance. Because it is just like everything in life isn't it? It requires balance. Of course one can not just simply accept everything, but fighting against what can be changed can only be detrimental to one's psychological well-being.
Ohh ... I am so happy to hear you liked this post. Your support and opinion are truly important to me and I just hope you know that! I don't know if you saw my reply to your comment. But, just to let you know I post every Friday around midday Portugal time, ok??
Lots of love to you always my dear :)
Thank you, dear Abby for saying that what I narrated is related to the topic at hand. You see, I'm not an expert in this field so, when I read about certain concepts, I try to understand what it is about me and my struggles that relate to it and then make my contribution from that angle.
Yes, acceptance is hard but I think suffering is harder. Instead of suffering about something for which you have no control over, I think it is better to accept it and find a way to let the good things in ones life overflow and subdue the bad.
I appreciate your personal angle of looking at this issue. It is easy to tell that you are constantly in search of how best to help the people who come to you for help. I am sure it takes a lot of listening and patience to figure out how best to help them and you have plenty of those, my dear so I'm sure you're doing one hell of a job.
Oh yes, I did read your comment and it made me smile. I will be looking forward to your post every Friday. More than the contribution I make, it helps we put a searchlight on my own feelings and emotions about the difficult times in my life and what exactly I did or did not do to get out of them.
You're appreciated beyond the measure of words. Keep being you. Talk to you later. ❤️
❤️
It's been way too long since I've done anything like this or anything similar to really sit back and take time for - and focus on - myself.
And why am I commenting BEFORE I've done it?
Because I want to tell you that it shows. I've been looking for a reason for quite some time now, and yet you tell me it's been right in front of me all this time.
I've been having trouble sleeping lately - tumbling around in bed until 3 am or later, then waking up at 5:40 am, been feeling tired all the time, unsocial, .... .... basically I've been feeling down in just about every sense.
The funny thing is, if you take 10 minutes - hell, even if you take an hour and go for a relaxing walk (I prefer walking to sitting meditation) - you actually end up feeling like there are more hours left of the day, not less.
And not only do you "magically create more time out of thin air", you also feel more energized and focused when you do come back to "reality".
The more I type this the more I'm recognizing the importance myself - for the second time, hheh...
I've been stuck in a loop of endless procrastination for the past few weeks (which some may have ntoiced on my blog - no new content aside of 5 minute freewrites), where I wanted to be very productive, was feeling guilty for doing nothing, but at the same time couldn't muster enough energy to actually do anything, and so was/am stuck in this vicious cycle of ... self-loathing for doing nothing and at the same time trying to overdo everything... And so I end up feeling completely overwhelmed with even the simplest of tasks...
Before this turns into a too introspective comment, I'll conclude it by saying:
Please take your time to sit down and "have a talk" with yourself. Time you spend bettering yourself is never wasted time. And you should never feel bad for taking that time for yourself. You are your most important asset - and everything you've got at the end of the day.
It's something I need to tell myself everyday also.
Hopefully this comment also answers why I haven't posted what I told you I would, @abigail-dantes. Sorry about that. :|
Now if you'll excuse me.... I have some meditating to do. :D
Edit: my former edit just.. vanished? so I will reply to myself.
Ahahahahah - This is so honest & funny :) (Loved it!).
I am very fond of walks too @svashta. I got to a point in my life where I cannot go without it anymore. Specially because I have trouble sleeping - I have always had. Of course, I only go for light walks, which allows me to think things through and put things in order in my head. The way I truly meditated is doing Yoga, as I find myself completely engrossed with the flow and asanas. This way I find I turn off from the outside world even more than when I try to meditate in the traditional way - to be honest, I am not very good at that!
In the paragraph where you described you currently find yourself enclosed in this cycle of wanting to do things and not doing them reminds me of the concept that discusses those situations in life when we focus on the gap that separates us from how we fell and how we would like to feel. I suppose this is that moment when accepting one's current state of mind and facing it will inevitably set us in motion to move forward.
You always finish your comments in great style @svashta. I hope that (your) message has touched you in the same way it has touched me. Take your time and look after yourself! You are a very talented, clever person. I will be waiting for that post and read it eagerly whenever you are ready to get on with it. But, perhaps, maybe you need to put a few little things in order first :)
I am looking forward to hear how you got on with that breathing exercise! Today, I did mine in the morning. 3 minutes. I struggled a little. But, now, after reading your comment. I feel I should do it again in the evening.
All the best to you always :)
I, too, have become dependant on these long walks that - exactly as you said - allow me to put things in order. And also have never been very good at "traditional meditation".
Hmmm. I never tried yoga. But since all else you say about yourself I can easily identify myself in.... perhaps I should give it a shot. The worst that can happen is becoming more flexible :p
Yes. It is exactly that. And because I didn't face it - and didn't allow myself any me-time, I was struggling hard.
Thank you very much!
To be quite honest, I also try my best to, and I'm very happy to see it shows. :3
And also thank you very much for all the other kind words that made me feel all fuzzy inside.
And your understanding, of course. It means a lot to me.
And starting right now (actually already started 10 minutes ago. :p) I am doing something I've been dreading and postponing for a long time now. And honestly? It's not that bad once you get at it :P And if I do a tenth, or a fifth of it while also having fun, it still beats having done nothing and being stressed the entire time, right? :D So your words - and mine - did indeed touch me in all the right places :P
As mentioned in my reply to myself, my mind kept wandering to how I never truly commented on your post, because I only commented on the very end of it (the breathing exercise)... Then when I managed to isolate those thoughts, I kept feeling bad because I didn't deliver the post I've promised you. When I managed to get rid of that - a string of hope sprouted as I began to think what my post could be about. Then I began feeling uneasy, my left buttcheek was apparently feeling a little too crumpled, and so I kept thinking whether or not I should reposition myself or not... Before I could fully decide, the timer went off and the three minutes have past.
I will definitely be giving it another go today! Especially since I can't really go out for a walk in this weather. Hopefully you're luckier there and can have a walk yourself ;D If so, have a stretch for me also, please :P
Thanks for the well written post about mindfulness. I have used mindfulness as part of my own treatment and have found it quite effective at helping me to deal with anxiety and depression where other methods have failed.
When I first starting with the breathing exercises there was no way I could do it for three minutes because the thoughts were too intense. Furthermore, my brain would twist the breathing in a horrible manner so I would have to stop.
What I found helpful though is the idea of staying in the present. That is, focusing on what is and not what was or what will be. Overall I think mindfulness is a very useful treatment and I don't buy the criticism of the acceptance part because when you deal with intrusive thoughts you can't really change them. In fact the act of trying to change them often leads to them getting worse over time. I think it is important to accept them and the fact they can't be changed and then stay in the present by moving on with what is important. This is of course easier said than done.
Hello Tim :)
Yes, good point! Acceptance is also a means to deal with intrusive thoughts. I should have thought of that!
Thank you for taking the time to do the exercise and provide your feedback! I think so far I only read one comment saying they actually felt relaxed and peaceful. All the others, mainly reported anxious thoughts.
Although this is a focus exercise I make the effort to fit in in my daily schedule, I find that I can only truly turn off while doing my Yoga and, depending on the material, while studying. As for you, I believe that is when you play your instruments right?
I am glad to hear you liked the post.
All the best to you always.
I wish I could turn off while playing an instrument, but it just isn't the case. At one point I couldn't even play an instrument because I had too many thoughts about catastrophic things happening because of it. I have gotten to the point where I can play but some of the thoughts are still there. I just try to accept them now and continue on.
For me the most useful task is something that requires a lot of mental power to accomplish. Of course playing an instrument requires this but for some reason it has been a struggle. I have found that doing things such as writing music and working on complex mathematics work better for me. Although I have also had problems in the past with destroying things I have created and starting over because they aren't good enough or they have become contaminated by horrible thoughts.
I remember once you said you got rid of all your composition work because of your invasive thoughts (the equivalent of 5 years - if I am not mistaken).
I am definitely noting this down - the approach to accepting uninvited thoughts as a means to better live with them. Now, after your account, it makes sense to me.
Writing can be very engrossing indeed! And I am not even talking about writing music. Well, this is something I find truly beautiful and I also find you a very fine composer Tim.
Best :)
Yes, that is correct and it was some of my best work that I spent hundreds of hours on.
I am not good at accepting compliments because I am extremely perfectionistic and self critical. To me everything I have put on Steemit is garbage. But I am trying to work on that and not remove any of them. Thank you for all the support.
Keep going on the psychology posts. I find them very interesting and a good refresher of things I have learned while in therapy.
:)
I'm definitely acceptance-avoidant. One of the big ways I and probably many other people distract themselves from suffering is to eat. But the example you give from your own experience is helpful. Accepting the situation and the emotions that accompany it might help alleviate those food cravings, which might be a projection of the cravings you described (for what we don't have) onto food. Hm. A lot to think about, as usual Abigail! Great discussion!
Than you @geke :)
I am very pleased you liked this topic. Your input is invaluable and it means a lot to me! I agree with your view of projecting the craving onto food, shopping, drinking
Out of the three elements of mindfulness, acceptance is definitely the trickiest one! I can successfully apply it sometimes; but, other times ... oh, well ! Still, this is something I keep in mind whatever distress I am going trough. As I just love the idea of accepting the difficult emotion, but from there ... expanding your experience and understanding that the distress is just part of that entire moment. It has surely, helped me to put things into perspective in the past :)
All the best to you my dear.
Thank you @abigail-dantes for this insightful revelations.
First thing first, I wish to know if it's alright for me as a teacher to assess a new student coming into my class using the Three Mental States (Acceptance, Awareness and Being Present). Also, can I assess the students in my class at the end of the term or academy sesssion using the Three Mental States?
Secondly, what do you think about me incorporating the homework you gave as a routine after the class entrance rituals? The homework was really helpful to me, so I think my students and probably, the whole students in my school could as well benefit more by participating in this daily routine.
Thank you in anticipation of your quick response.
I am @isaaceko.
Hello @isaaceko,
Thank you for stopping b and taking the time to read and comment. I would like to let you know that I am by no means an expert in mindfulness, I even have trouble applying to my daily life myself! Even though, I don't think one should be "assessed"in the acceptance, awareness and being present. In my opinion, this would defeat the object of what this approach to life is all about. I would say that sharing this information with your students would be a great thing for you to do; but, as for assessing them on it ... perhaps not.
ps: I wish I had a teacher like you when I was younger! :)
As for the idea of incorporating the homework I shared here with all of you with your students - again, what a great, thoughtful teacher you are - I would apply it as a ritual, but rather as a daily exercise to improve their focus and attention. After all there are no side effects here. The worse it can happen is for them to follow asleep :D
A way to avoid this, though, would be for you to do together with them.
You would time the 3 minutes and would say:
"Everyone, now, close your eyes .... calmly inhale ... and exhale .... inhale ... in a nice calm voice."
This could be so much fun!! :D
These are truly lucky kids for having someone as mindful as you as their teacher!
All the best to you.
Thank you for the reply amidst the long lines of comments from your addict readers.
Guess what? I just joined them. I will always be the first to read your post. I wish there is an application that can alert me of your next post.
I made my family do the homework with me today and they won't stop talking about it.
I think of you as a great teacher @abigail-dantes
Cheers!
I am @isaaceko
That’s very nice to hear @isaaceko. You made my morning with your kind comment. I post every Friday. Just to let you know. Have a wonderful week and all the best to you and to your family :)
Great! I will be there to learn and to cheer you all along @abigail-dantes
As I have told you already, I'm a little late with reading and responding with all my attention... just imagine, you had published your post in a magazine or newspaper and now my (paper) letter finally gets into your mail box ;-)
When I saw your headline, I got really excited, because it looked like a very interesting subject and I knew you would present it in an eye opening and inspiring way.
As usual, my head was spinning a bit with all kinds of thoughts, some of them contradicting and a concern, that I might be dealing with things completely wrong...
As I read through the paragraph "Origins", memories are awakened. Of a night on a train, when my girlfriend had given me Hermann Hesse's book "Siddhartha" and I read it overnight. Just to learn later on in your text, that maybe the mind shouldn't be wandering like that...
Then when you ask your question,
I realized again, how very privileged I am. The things that may "bother" me are not even worth mentioning in the end. They can mostly be dealt with, with a decent amount of patience and the rest is the way it is.
And then it seems, my strategy of "stress relief" doesn't seem so good after all... but maybe only at first sight. I told you, how I'd do something simple and how it would help me feeling better. It all started, when my mother told me the supposedly Arabian saying: "When you feel bad, go do the dishes". Ok, I might choose to do something different and now that I think about it, its not so much to seek distraction, it must be something else.
In fact, that is something that seemed nonlogical to me so far about this method, but now it makes sense. With a simple task, the mind is not really distracted from the "problem"... I mean, of course, you can do the dishes and still have your thoughts focused on what makes you feel bad. But maybe it really is a kind of meditation and by just watching your hands do their job, it might work the same way as focusing on your breath, like you suggest in the end (?)
It helps me calm down and get a different perspective. So, the way I would like to describe the effect is, that its not so much about avoiding the "pain" but more or less dissolving it...
One reason, why I feel privileged is my job. The fact, that I can support myself as an artist and of course the kind of work I do and how I do it. I spend days going by in literally no time at all, when I'm in the flow of creating my artworks. You really are fully in the present at any given moment...
I know the results of your homework without even doing it now, because it is something I experience all the time. When I paint, I loose all track of time. I could set the alarm at one hour and still be surprised when it goes off. In aikido, we sit for several minutes before the training and it is pretty much the same thing. And when I want to consciously "empty" my mind, I simply focus on "what thought will come next?".
And now, with your words still floating through my mind, I'm going to go down to my favorite café, with a big smile on my face 😊
Hello my Dear :)
I am very glad that in this sentence you put "I might" , because this tells me you are evaluating your own coping strategies. I would not like to think that my readers think that what I present here is the right way of doing things :) Please always keep this is mind, this is a space where I deliver various psychological approaches to dealing with emotional distress; some people will identify more with a certain approach, others with another. Or even better, we all identify with some parts of each one! This is my case, by the way, I like and dislike all psychological approaches.
And to be honest, someone who has the sort of reflection that I am going to quote below, seems to have already in place the most effective way of dealing with their own stress:
But, of course, even though you have found your own efficient way of dealing with your daily stress you are also aware that we are all in the making, always learning. That is why you come here and dissect my content and raise many interesting questions :)
And of course, in psychology, meditation is all about focus and attention. So, yes, whether you are washing your hands, brushing your teeth or even eating; paying attention to, let's say, the running water, the movements of your hands etc ... that is meditation. You, I believe, meditate every time you embark on a project, I can only imaging how meditative your job is. This is one of the reasons why you are so full of gratitude, love and contentment :)
All the best to you and to your family.
I wish you all a wonderful week :)
I actually practice meditation. Only 10 min a day, but it's something. I also do it outside in the sun so as to get some vitamin D while I'm at it! Nothing better than passive multitasking lol!
The reason I started it - although I'm a skeptic about everything - is because of all the research coming out that it's healthy, and to me specifically the clincher was that it makes you 10% smarter! (among other things, like 10% happier etc.)
I'm also a long-time student of Buddhism, which I find the most fascinating religion in the world, the reason being that a large part of it is pure philosophy, with great insights. And I suspect Buddhism is only going to get bigger. I see more and more people discovering it and becoming fascinated with it. If it were a cryptocurrency, I'd definitely invest on it! :P
Ahahahah Aahahahah
I love the multitasking part AND the Buddah crypto!
Ahahahah
Now you made me think more seriously about it. I mean, so many worthless coins out there, why not one more?
What's gonna be our 3-letter symbol?
The blockchain BUDdha?
MEDitation coin?
NIRvana?
NOBle truth coin?
Is your husband a programmer? I only want 10% of the coin supply. I'm not a greedy person. In fact, according to Buddhism, I'm not a person period.
SELfless coin?
I like NOBle truth coin! He is going to start mining it and then we will offer an ICO :P
SELfless coin sounds good to me! :)
😃
@abigail-dantes you never fail to amaze me. Ive been waiting for a post coming from you for days. I guess you were quite busy. This blog about mindfulness is very timely and I truly relate with this presently. I posted on my blog that I have negative thoughts about responsibilities because of Adulting and it stresses me a lot which pushes me to a point that I could not make rational judgements anymore. Your explanation of mindfulness is definitely and absolutely correct. The more we deny to ourselves that we have problems makes us more vulnerable in breaking down. In life we should accept that things happen because they happen. And instead of sulking about it,the best things that we could do is accept it and move on. Mindfulness also highlights the importance of self-awareness. Where one should understand his/her inner self to have a complete grasp who he really is. Emotional Intelligence could also be associated with mindfulness since both talks about submitting our emotions to wisdom. Great post once again @abegail-dantes. As someone who also enjoys posting about psychology topics. You are someone I look up to.
Hello @sakura1012 thank you so much for your incredibly kind words :) It feels really motivating for me having this kind of feedback. I am sorry to keep you waiting; but, I would like to let you know that I post every Friday - around midday in Portugal :)
I really like how you summarized the core concept of the three elements we discussed here and even related it to emotional intelligence. That is quite smart, actually! While some criticize the notion of mindfulness, I tend to believe that, like you said:
All the best!
You made me smile @abigail-dantes,I'm grinning from ear to ear because of this lovely message. I will definitely look forward to another amazing post from you. Cheers!
First of all, congratulations @ abigail-dantes, as always is another special and inspiring subject as well as beautiful. I think that full attention is a good practice as long as it is guided by a psychologist experts in this practice, full attention makes us live in the present, the awareness of what is happening to us, makes us live fully the moment in that things happen to us or we carry out activities so we can take experiences from them.
Many people who suffer some episode of sadness, seek refuge in trying to evade their suffering, I especially think that you have to live the mourning of any situation however strong, only living the mourning can overcome the circumstances and feelings for get ahead and let those experiences become just a bad memory. Also most people have a deep-rooted habit of covering their experiences with a succession of points of view, opinions and judgments, this happens at the same time as events which makes it very difficult to find any initiative while they are bouncing between a reaction and other.
There may be things that we can not change, such as pain, illness or a difficult circumstance, but at least we can realize how we react or respond to everything that happens to us, and develop strategies to change the relationship we have with our circumstances.
As for the meditation it is very good, it makes us feel liberated, in my house there was a yoga book and as I enjoyed reading a day I decided to read it and I was curious about the techniques that I had to meditate and I put them into practice and I liked them a lot today I have not done it more because of the hectic life I have.
Oh @mili2088 it looks like you are knowledgeable on this subject! :) So thank you for adding your insight to this discussion as it is always good to see more and more people seeing this approach as a useful (and natural) way of dealing with the difficulties of life! But, also like I always say, we can also implement 'being present' for example, in those good moments! Like you said there, we live in a such hectic life that sometimes we are even too distracted to enjoy the good times :)
It is true we have to be present especially in the good times as you said, because they do not come back and are what give us happiness and wonderful experiences. Continue with these high-quality posts, to cope with the quality of life of many people. Your work is very beautiful.
I did not really know about this practice but it would be great to be able to cope with stress, anxiety, pain or illness. Too often we do not carry out our actions in a conscious way, but we let ourselves be dragged; we act driven by the impulses and totally ordinary thoughts that run through our mind like a river, if not like a waterfall. We are trapped in that torrent, which ends up flooding our lives and takes us to places we might not want to go to or maybe we did not even know we were heading to.
And instead of letting ourselves be carried away, sitting by its edge, listening to it, learning from it, and then using its energy so that, instead of dominating us, it serves as a guide.
It's something that in particular would help me a lot, thank you for sharing about these interesting things!
Hello @pedval25 :)
Well, you say you didnt't know about mindfulness before; but, I must say, I am very impressed with how you described the way we experience our emotions and how they, indeed, controll us without us even noticing. Sometimes, the solution is on the simplest things, such as : stopping for a moment and taking a deep breath!
It made me very happy to hear you saying the elements of mindfulness can help you cope with your day-to-day life stress :)
All the best to you!
Si es cierto y me parece que es muy útil en la vida diaria, el tema de la atención plena y yo me propongo investigar más sobre este tema y darte las gracias por la publicación de tan importante recurso para superarnos cada día más.
Hi my friend, what finally pulled things all together for me was when I began to meditate and become mindful of my anxiety.
Acceptance took a little longer. However, it was the most powerful part of my healing. I was facing a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety at work, breathing exercises plus guided imagery allowed me to quickly understand and accept who I am.
Wishing you well. Much love. 🐓🐓
My dearest friend @mother2chicks
Thank you so much for bringing your knowledge and experience to this discussion. Despite all the attention mindfulness is gaining at the moment, there is still a lot of skepticism around it. Still, I am an optimist and I see positive psychology as the psychology of the future! All we need to do is spread the word :D
Acceptance is indeed a tricky one; an old professor of mine who suffered from recurrent depression told us once that only when he accepted that recurrent depression was part of who he was (not entirely who he was) did his treatment began to show positive effects. He said he even went from accepting who he was, to actually loving who he was most of the time!
Lots of love to you always :)
There are no words to let you know how much you are appreciated my friend. Much Love! 🐓🐓
This sounds so sweet, adoring who you are no matter what - which should actually enable us to use our full potentials, and even 'negative' traits for positive purposes (' ' because I believe that negativity and positivity are just artificial constructs made by non-absolutely-perfect common mindset :D) And that is what I actually need to work on I guess. :)
I find it almost impossible to shut my mind. During the three minutes, I was thinking a lot about: your article, my future articles, the alarm clock, the falling Steem and SBD prices, the upcoming tango weekend... and a very little bit about my current breathing.
The only type of meditation that I think relatively works for me are the guided meditations where we listen to someones voice - that somewhat prevents me from talking to myself... but only somewhat. : )
I liked this advice so much that I've added it to my self-help word document. : )
Speaking of my self-help word document, here are some quotes/notes related to mindfulness from it:
Cheers! : )
I know I am not meant to find this funny; but, I also know you understand me. Your description of the tree minutes is so honest it actually made me smile! My Gosh ... you might not have been able to shut your mind, but you sure know what keeps you from making it possible. As for me ... I find that, on some days, I manage to get on with my breathing better than others. On really tricky ones, I reach for my alarm thinking I haven't turned it on, only to find out that only a single minute went by!! Awful!!
What you said you so right though, and to turn the experience more pleasant I should just put some chants on for 5 mins. and try to focus on that instead!
Thank you so very much for these most beautiful quotes you have shared here. Ohh! THANK YOU.
By the way, your post What is the real value of money and how it relates to Maslow's hierarchy of needs is magnificent!
Have a great weekend & all the best for you always :)
Mindfulness helped me a lot with my emotions, at the beginning it's a bit difficult because everything turns in your head like a washing machine, and then you start to feel anxiety, stress, even fear!
But a moment of calm and acceptance of the present moment invaded me. I did not need anything else. Only my breathing and me. The moment was perfect. It was not happiness, it was something much more peaceful, a feeling of well-being.
I get to enjoy more of my daily life, I have improved my self-esteem, in reality life changes you, you just have to put a lot of our part!
This is a beautiful comment @karinavb and I just love how honest it is.
Thank you for contributing in a such constructive way to this discussion.
All the best for you :)
I've been meditating for a few years now and the benefits are just how you outlined them. At first they were more immediate and relieved a lot of my anxiety but over time its a gradual waking up to ones thought processes and biases. It changes the minds "default mode" amongst so many other benefits making for better overall emotional control.
I felt more peaceful and relaxed just reading about mindfulness, thank you :)
Oh @cizzo, your comments are always so nice and positive! No wonder why I am not surprised to hear you practice meditation :)
And you are so right, during the process of preparing this post and while going through my materials I felt relaxed too!
All the best to you.
:)
Ansiaba con el corazón poder leer su publicación. ¡Dios le bendiga!
Hay muchas cosas que técnicamente aun no entiendo, pero he optado por tomar notas y poco a poco ir empapándome con los temas que usted trata. Con respecto a lo que es la ACEPTACIÓN, ESTAR PRESENTE Y CONCIENCIA, asumo es algo que no se; si por mi creencia a Dios he seguido en pie de lucha después de la muerte de mi hermano,logrando aceptarlo, seguir presente para mis hijos y tomar conciencia de todo lo sucedido pero hay algo muy curioso:
Esto es parte de mi realidad con mi mamá, siento que mientras ella no tenga aceptacion sobre lo sucedido no creo pueda estar presente ni menos tomar conciencia de todo lo que ha vivido, ella trata de torturarse como madre siempre preguntándose: ¿quizás mi hijo estuviera vivo, si hubiera echo esto o aquello? y lo que no entiende es que mi hermano tuvo una muerte donde según los médicos ni el cuenta se dio de que murió.
A veces como familia no es fácil solucionar este tipo de situaciones, por eso he optado por hablarle a mi mama de usted y la forma como nos esta ayudando a mi hermano @javisem y a mi para poderla ayudar a ella, en lo personal le estaré agradecida el resto de mi vida, ella nos oye pero se que poco a poco algún día nos escuchara y todo cambiara. La sigo de cerca @abigail-dantes y gracias por hacerse sentir en mis publicaciones muy grande el apoyo que usted me ha brindado.
Hello @jayoxaju
I really respect you and your brother for the love and dedication you have for you mum. This is a really beautiful thing; which, in my opinion makes me see her as a very privileged, gifted woman.
For what you told me here, it looks like she is so entrapped in a pattern of negative thinking (torturing herself, asking herself questions etc... ) that she has become unable to see all the positive things she has in her life. And it is this pattern we need to try to break!
All the best for you always my dear.
Thank you for stopping bye and taking the time to comment :)
Ciertamente es eso lo que pasa, se ha vuelto un patrón en ella. Creo que ella no se perdona el hecho de que haya sido mi hermano el que murió y no ella, de verdad que nos ha costado 4 largos años que a la vez han pasado volando para tratar de ayudarla. No se, si somos nosotros que no hemos dado lo suficiente o sencillamente porque no hemos tenido la ayuda propicia para ver que hacer. Hasta ahorita nos ha estado prestando atención con respecto a lo que le decimos de sus escritos pero siento que no terminamos de cubrir esos espacios para terminarla de ayudar. Gracias por sus buenos deseos, se que son de corazón porque lo siento igual de mi parte y espero en Dios tener la dicha de poderla conocer y al menos poder estrechar la mano de mi buena amiga y ahora doctora @abigail-dantes.
Dios le bendiga en gran manera, feliz noche.
I have that belief that accepting the lot in life or past unpleasant circumstances helps one move forward in life. If one is to ignore them and think there's a way to escape it by just ignoring it and focusing on the positives, it always have a way of coming back to haunt one.
There's is this saying in Africa, "Those who do not know where the rain starts beating them are very likely not to know when it stops raining." Even though seeing a psychologist is something that is rare in this part of the clime, I always feel as if I'm having a session whenever I read your post. I guess it's majorly because of your style of writing which is almost devoid of all those jargons that makes most not understand what goes on in this amazing study of people.
Thanks very much for doing this.
Dearest @greenrun
I feel truly humbled by your words! Thank you so much :)
Also, let me just say that I love the African saying you shared here with us. I do agree with it. That also makes me think about what you said about accepting one's lot in life. I think it is also important to keep in mind that this is a notion valid for both the difficult and the good experiences :) sometimes I feel that specially being present and aware of the good moments of life would help us not become so upset by the difficult ones. Particularly those which leave us with no option other than acceptance.
I see so many people spending so many years grieving the loss of a loved one; which makes them almost forget the presence of the ones who are still around. I see so many people entrapped by the walls of not accepting a divorce and spending many years stuck in that frame of mind.
Yes, we must have the understanding of when we should fight for change, as long as we also have the humility to see that not all situations in life can be changed! And here I came back to how you started your comment, but adding a little observation of mine: there is something smart about 'accepting one's lot in life'!
Lots of love to you my dear :)
I think like when we experience a loss; it is always good to acknowledge it. Living in denial without accepting it is now where the problems are.
This is a quote from the movie series Revenge. I think it's apt in a lot of situation in real life. Once we could accept the situation, moving on becomes somewhat easier. But not accepting it is and trying to move on is just a temporary fix and won't last like a house built on a shaky foundation. Thanks one more time.
When resisting our negative emotions we actullay add pain to them. At any given moment someone’ emotion is part of him and no one can reject part of himself. When accepted the extra pain fades away leaving a feeling of release around the original pain.
Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for such a well-written comment. You basically described the very core of acceptance. And what you said is so well put 'rejecting pain is like rejecting a part of ourselves'. I suppose there is where the struggle begins! We don't want to see pain as a part of our existence, as a part of us. It is a vicious cycle!
All the best to you @alignment
You are welcome. I would like to thank you for the effort you put in this blog.
hello @abigail-dantes as always an excellent post full of knowledge that help us understand the purpose of psychology.
As for mindfulness, life and reading of course taught me to find some exercises to turn it into a habit that helps us understand acceptance and be present I will share with you.
Some of them are meditation: which helps us or allows us to understand our mind to return it or bring it back to the present moment makes us eliminate the complicated part and make conscious. It is done daily for at least five minutes and you increase the time as the days go by.
read: look for a moment of tranquility in which you feel alone, relax and read a novel or any book that you find interesting and you like, try not to have the TV or any device nearby at that time this will put into practice your approach
draw: grab a paper and a pencil and just start drawing do not think about anything else only what you want to capture and if your thoughts go from one part to another comes back with placidity to the present moment not to teach the final drawing to anyone will help to draw without fear. Although there are many more exercises these three are the ones that I have put into practice and they have helped me to practice mindfulness.
I hope you continue to guide me with your posts that are of great help to improve us as human beings greetings ..
What a wonderful post this is @catire383 :D
I truly appreciate you taking the time to carefully write all these exercises with us :) I am sure all the other readers feel grateful too! I love the drawing one :)
All the best to you & your family always.
thank you @abigail-dantes I always strive to learn a little more and your posts are a great help to enrich my knowledge greetings for you and also for your family
excellent information @abigail-dantes, once again an excellent post to help us maintain good mental health. We live in a time of stress, speed and external noise and mental because of all the problems that overwhelm us, is as we were intoxicated as much information and tasks and life breasts passes and we live our experiences with our whole being if not mabera superficial, ignoring that the present moment is just what counts and most of the time we let it go, mindfulness is a technique that helps us learn to be present and pay attention to everything we do and in that way to be able to change our life giving it a direction where we can overcome pain and suffering, using those experiences to grow and strategies to live our grief and in the end everything is in the past.
Full attention teaches us that when we are present the external factors are no longer a problem, because it is us and that single factor saving us from the other problems that afflict us, in this way being present becomes a way to handle any circumstance .
Hello @urbano579 :)
I am impressed! It looks like you have great understanding about this topic :) Thank you for bringing more insight about mindfulness to this discussion. You are so right on your description about us living in a time of stress. I sometimes think to myself, where are we going to go from here?
Anyway ... this is another discussion. It is just that you made me think with your wonderful comment urbano @urbano579 Thank you!
All the best for you :)
Thank you abigail-dantes, if in this world today there are many stresses, we live fast, imagine in my country Venezuela the economic situation is very hard and for example I seek help in psychology so as not to be overwhelmed although it is a bit difficult not to worry .
What good information, in this life we lead, we do not escape the suffering, we all touch either the physical loss of a family member or some disappointment and it is good to know that therapies exist such as mindfulness that helps us to live our experiences fully and not as we are accustomed, superficially without realizing in real time what happens to us.
It's true we usually pay attention to the activities of the moment, only with a small part of ourselves, while the mind and thoughts are in something else, that's something that happens to me frequently, I'm doing any activity in the house and instead of concentrating on it, I am thinking about my studies. there are also people who hide their feelings or disguise them, in my opinion we must accept what happens to us and look for strategies that help us overcome the bad circumstances of this life, expensive with the help of a professional
Meditation I have tried a few times but I do not concentrate most of the time as I would like, suddenly everything that I have to do comes and I deconcentrate
I struggle with meditation as well @stefany12 but, I still make an effort to take 3 to 5 minutes every day to do the breathing/focus exercise. Some days it feels like it takes forever I even check if I really set my alarm! Others, it goes quicker. But I do think that we can also meditate during our daily activities, like you said, in the house. It doesn't have to last the whole time; but, for example if you are going to wash the dishes, at least, the first few plates you think : I am here, doing this house activity, the water is running, the bubbles of the soap are drifting ... it might sound funny, but it is all exercise for the mind. In the long run it helps our focus and attention :)
All the best to you!
If I have to put a little dedication to meditation, according to what I read brings those who practice a general welfare that I would like to feel to be able to more gently carry my loads, thank you very interesting abigail-dantes your post.
wonderful post, being able to live in the present is becoming very difficult these days because we have accumulated so much fear about the future that everything we do is always in response to that fear. Once again your posts are very enlightening.
Oh @leczy ❤️😍 how have you been?
I am so glad you liked the post my dear :) you are so right! And I particualrly like the observation you made about our constant anxiety about the future. To an extent I have always been like that; so, I can really relate to what you said. I am always thinking about what the future holds for me, my family members, society ... well, like I said here, I don’t seem to spend much time fully in the present moment 😅.
I hope you are fine. I wish you good health always my dear.
All the best!
I have come to realize that in life we always have one issue or the other to solve no matter how hard or how perfect we could be. Therefore, I concur with you on accepting those feeling and dealing with them as appropriate.
Dont you think this can overwhelm the person in pain ?
As said in your post, meditation is a way to achieve it. Personally, I have not consciously engaged in meditations, but i guess unconsciously I must had.
This is a fact that is to be learnt at early stage in life. I think such training should be infused in curriculum from teenage classes.
Thank you for this wonderful post.
Que tenga buen fin. Chao.
Hello @turpsy :)
It is always no nice and motivating reading your reflections!
I agree with your first statement very much. Life is indeed a sequence of issues, little and sometimes great problems we have to solve. And many times (not always), it is down to us, whether we make those issues bigger than they really are or not! Often, it is mainly about the meaning we attach to the situation, or even the level or acceptance we embrace it. Like I said on another comment. There are situations that, really, we are left with no other option but accept it!
Being with the pain, can indeed be overwhelming @turpsy. And this is why most of us just resort to distractions: go to the computer, watching TV, shopping, eating etc... (me included!). However, this does not mean 'remaining with the pain'. Being with the pain in a sense is about getting to now it, it is about not escaping from it, it is about facing it! Like this one doesn't become intimidated or entrapped by it. But, of course, these are stages and to get to that point where one can face one's pain there is a path of difficult feelings. It is important to remember though, that the more one does this, the easier and less frightening it becomes.
As for meditation, the way I engage with it is really through that simple breathing/exercise. Sometimes I struggle with it, sometimes I don't! :)
So glad to hear you found this post nice.
Thank you and all the best to you always!
Buenos días mi Señora! así como usted lo describes la aceptación, la conciencia y estar presente, en la psicología humanitaria o en los terapeutas cognitivos (Yo lo llamo evolución progresiva de la psicología), hay una particularidad en la humanidad y de esto estamos todos consientes, es no estar conforme, en qué sentido? la humanidad o los humanos anhelamos lo que no tenemos y lo que tenemos no le prestamos atención. Es decir sufrimos por lo que no tenemos y dejamos de disfrutar lo que tenemos, podemos decir entonces que Buda renunció a todo por humanismo o porque entendió lo complicada que es la naturaleza al momento de distribuir por selección natural? Yo diría que sintió dolor del porque unos sufre y otros no, pero en fin; debatir los pensamientos de Buda ha traído mucha discrepancia en el tema, pero yo podría tomar lo bueno de las meditaciones de Buda. Ya que él comprendió que evitar el sufrimiento es imposible, no en todos los casos aceptamos lo que nos aflige puede ser por ignorancia, por creer que es un error, o como se dice comúnmente “porque me pasó a mí” pero el hecho de la aceptación a momentos críticos de nuestras vidas es el primer paso de cambiar una realidad y no por el simple hecho de no aceptarlo en nuestra mente, no cambiará el hecho de que está pasando.
No todas las personas aceptan los momentos de estrés de igual formas y maneras, a muchos les hace fácil salir y superar momentos de estrés por si solos, en mi caso he podido salir del duelo de la muerte de mi hermano, yo acepte tal realidad, me siento identificado con su planteamiento, pero a mi mamá esto se le ha hecho imposible, ya que ella no ha aceptado esta realidad, se niega rotundamente a aceptar que ha perdido un hijo, puedo decir que ella por sí sola no tiene la facultad o capacidad mental para afrontar tal situación.
Ahora bien podríamos decir que aceptando, teniendo conciencia y estando presente a las aflicciones o adversidades podemos borrar el dolor de nuestras existencias? En ninguna manera! Pero si podemos lidiar con esos momentos de estrés, sin que nos afecten psicológicamente. Son tres pasos relacionados entre sí (Aceptación, Conciencia y Estar Presente), que forman un todo (Atención plena).
Mi estimada Doctora, como me gustaría que usted estuviera aquí en mi país, le pido a Dios poder prosperar rápidamente en Steemit, que un voto mío al 100% genere muchas ganancias para poder llevar a mi mamá ante su presencia y sea tratada por usted, ningún psicólogo la ha podido ayudar, usted mi dirá: Tu mamá también tiene que poner de su parte! Es verdad, pero las técnicas que usted escribe en sus post no las veo en los psicólogos de aquí, gracias una vez más por esta cátedra, Dios me la bendiga grandemente y gracias por su apoyo en mis post :*
Hello my dear @javisem,
Your comment is so very insightful. It is also a very beautiful reflection of everything the post covered.
I have a couple of questions about your mum.
I wish you and your entire family a very peaceful weekend!
I send your mum all my love :)
Hola mi estimada Doctora buenos días!
El fallecimiento de mi hermano fue hace 4 años y 19 días
Todo el tiempo! también habla de como se pudo haber evitado el accidente, que si mejor hubiese tenido otro trabajo y le echa mucha culpa a mi papá por no ayudarlo a encontrar otro empleo, porque mi hermano era policía.
Ella trabaja y trata de ocuparse! pero creo que lo hace es para poder tener la mente ocupada, pero denota mucho su tristeza en el semblante de su rostro.
No! ella se volvió a casar, pero su esposo me cuenta que todos los días llora la ausencia de mi hermano, además mi hermano dejo una hija, la cual mi mamá sustenta.
Gracias por sus buenos deseos, preocupación y estima, con gusto le daré sus saludes a mi mamá, que descanse y disfrute su fin de semana!
About 5 years ago I suffered from a neuritis that made me feel terrible, for that moment I was prescribed pregabalin and the truth was that I felt good but I became addicted, I was desperate if I did not take it and I had already healed of the neuritis. In the end I decided to reduce the daily dose myself. I managed to leave it and chose to lead a healthier life by breathing outdoors, meditating and sharing with my family. Thank you very much @abigail-dantes for your writings
This is a wonderful, positive and hopeful message @senteno77! Thank you. It is very inspiring for others undergoing the same situation you went through.
Thank you for bringing hope to others through your own story! :)
I would have taken a moment in which I fully acknowledged my stress : what caused it, how it made my body react and how it disrupted my emotions
Judging by my experience when i am stressed i always know what caused it and how my body and emotions reacted and even accept my ''pain'' but although i pretty much have the big idea the stomach ''pain'' can't seem to leave me. Thank god i am only stressed at very small things :P
Also i think that a person should be strong in order to deal with all of this in that way. To accept the pain is something only a few can achieve i believe and they need to do most of the job themselves that's the trick you are somewhat alone in this but if you managed it somehow then you are a completely new person!
As for the 3 minutes homework i don't know what's wrong with me :P i felt absolutely nothing. I thought i did something wrong, i read it again and still same result the complete nothingness :P
Hello my dear @filotasriza3
Ok, this made me giggle! Even more so because of the smile you put at the end!
Now, tell me. What were you expecting to feel anyways? The homework is an activity that helps to improve focus and concentration. In the extreme there are two ways of embarking on this:
If you said you felt nothing, I am going to make a guess that your experience was closer to 1 than to 2; am I right? If so, you should be very pleased. This indicates you don't find very difficult to focus; or, for that matter, to engage with the present moment!
I am still giggling! :)
hahaha now i am giggling too, you guessed right it the first 1 but i think the main reason i manage to focus on the breathing and not anything else is the 3 minutes period, if it was 5-10 then waves and waved of thoughts will be all over me! ( even when i go to sleep many thoughts come to mind :P)
At least you reassured me somehow that it wasn't complete nothingness, i can focus!!! :P
@abigail-dantes, the 3 minutes seemed really long and I found that I was hyperaware of sounds... the hum of the computer... a ticking of a wall clock. I believe that it is really important to be present, not just in moments of sadness, but also in moments of joy, in moments of connectedness. We probably miss out on quite a bit because our minds are elsewhere.
In fact, even reading of Steemit posts like this one, I find that when I'm mindful, I tend to make connections that I can store as a future tool.
Big hug! 🤗
Your feedback is very interesting my dear @karencarrens. Like most of us you also felt the three minutes were rather long. However, you were the first person to report hyperawareness. There were other quite unique reports too though :)
Thank you for taking the time to do the homework!
I wish you a wonderful week & all the best always!
Usually I get frustrated easily, it bothers me the fact that things do not go as I expect and more if I put everything of my, when I am in that moment of "closed mind" I prefer to isolate myself to calm down since it is not easy for me to overcome that feeling, and could react in a bad way to someone who does not deserve it. Keep me alone and in peace until I organize my ideas, understand the causality of the scare and thus be able to continue ... @abigail-dantes
Hello @josping :)
I am impressed! You seem to be very self-aware. Not many people are so in-tune with their emotions like you seem to be. I suppose that is why you have already found the right strategy to deal with your distress. Thank you for discussing it with us here, as someone might relate to this as well, as find in your comment the solution they haven’t found yet to deal with their frustrations!
All the best :)
Thanks to you for reading me and add your comment.
before it was very bad to control my emotions, which bothered me many times and very fast, personally I think that improves a lot in that aspect and now I am a better person!
Greetings and a big hug @ abigail-dantes
Love your publication!
You explained everything as detailed and explicitly as things happen. It is incredible the power of our mind and see the ability to control it has over us. That's why it's always important to take some time and analyze calmly.
And yes, the minutes were eternal haha. Regards!
Thank you very much for your kind comment @josebompart. I am very grateful to you for taking the time to engage with the exercise and provide your feedback :)
Most of the other readers reported the same reaction 'it took ages!' I suppose, it just goes to show how we live such a distracted life style, right? :)
All the best to you.
Hi Abigail, Good morning. I finish reading your post and I am very interested.
Psychology has always attracted me because it studies many things in our heads that we do not understand, but everything has a reason to be. That's why I like it.
The three means, that Minfulness raises are states of accepting reality and dealing with it despite how uncomfortable or painful it can be.
One of the things that I have implemented in my life lately has been the acceptance of who I am, because this allows me to be clear about who I am, with my virtues and defects, because if I do not deceive myself and I can not improve.
Another thing that I have had to do is face up to the circumstances that I would like not to go through but if I do as if they were not there, again I deceive myself and my life becomes bitter. Then accept reality is necessary, because if not, you will never face things, becoming cowards and letting life go without living healthily.
Buddha is right when he says: "to live a life where we directly engage with suffering instead of trying to avoid it".
And yes, I accept that life has pain but I do not accept it as a way of life, so we have to face it.
I'm learning is to face what I fear most, and casually I wrote about this yesterday, talk about fear, as a result of my own story.
When we are afraid we try to avoid that person, animal or that something that terrifies us and you start to escape from it trying to forget just for a little while. But then it repeats again filling you with anxiety.
Maybe I expose about fear and my result has been to face it. Maybe for others their life is different and the solution to their state is to recognize and cry until they run out of everything they feel, change their place, do a treatment, go out, get distracted, have fun, but without doubt they have to face it first Having the will to decide Even though pain affects too much, it can not be a definitive state.
So the state of acceptance, of being present and becoming aware will be necessary.
Today thanks to your post I understand what psychologically means to overcome certain uncomfortable episodes.
Regards @abigail-dantes
Thank you for taking the time to discuss this topic further @rosibelsac. Your words are really meaningful! Whatever it is your are going trough now I believe you have the mental strength to face and not be frightened by it. And the only reason I say this is because of how you digested this topic and commented here :)
All the best to you!
Hey@abigail-dantes! Yes, acceptance is the key of all things, when there is acceptance there is growth. Buddaism is the practice of acceptance through suffering, like you point out in this post, it can be beneficial to those needing clarity. They could be told, instead of the changes being mental illness, it's actually the process of life that everyone goes through when our houses need to be cleaned.
I mentioned you in one of my posts as a way to honour your insights. Peace.
Hello @fiercewarrior, thank you once again for your always wise words! I really like this sentence:
Thank you for the mention! It is truly humbling :) It looks like we have more in common than I initially thought.
You're welcome @abigail-dantes, the messages you share are so worthy of praise, you're on purpose to achieving great things not only on Steemit, but I'm sure in both you're personal and professional life. Job well done!
what can I say, than to applaud you for this educative article. The mind holds what and who we are. From the mind, we exhibit all actions. In life, no matter the situation and challenges, there is always a way out of it. like you said, encouraging people to remain in their position and challenges is really a bad idea. Nice one Mentor😀
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Ok, I found a solution for this. I am going to call you mentor too :P
All jokes aside, I am very happy to see your kind comment here. Glad to see you liked the post :) Life is definitely not a walk in the park and I believe that being smart through adopting psychological processes such as acceptance, awareness and being present helps us not only see suffering in a less overwhelming way, but also lead us to enjoy more the good moments of life :)
Thank you so much for stopping by Mentor @wisdomdavid
:)
Your absolutely right my Mentor..but for you to call me mentor...trust me...you're opening another page of you being my mentor...lesson to learn from my mentor in page 2.."servant leadership " my mentor Abi gail wants me to learn how to be humble. Because by calling me mentor, you she wants me to be humble when I attain greater height. That's why she called me mentor. I learnt that mentor. Thank you for another lesson
Ohhhh noo ... Mr. Smart! 😂
😀 Thanks..Now you understand why you are my Mentor. If am smart, Credit to my Mentor. The Smartest.
Brilliant use of metaphor the prince in the palace! Never thought of it that way. It is a practice, indeed, because some stories are more seductive than others and when we realize this that is also when we realize we have done sufficient work with mindfulness meditation to even see it. That is why it is so important to begin right where we are and start now. Which is what I am writing about today :)
Thank you @soulsistashakti :)
Well, I have been learning a lot from your beautiful blog! So, I will be checking your article either later today or tomorrow. You are the authority here, I understand mindfulness and meditation from within the frames of psychological well-being only. You are the one with the philosophical background and the experience!
I still struggle to apply this notions on my daily life!
All the best to you my dear :)
Not at all my friend, I am a student and I write about things I want to learn or learn more deeply. I will always be a student of it because I believe the subject is always going to be expanding for me.
Thank you so much for the compliment it means a lot! 💖
I really enjoyed reading this.
I know quite a few people who reject comcepts like meditiation because it's labeled as a religious practice, or even a buddhist practice. I think it's very important to emphasize - just like you said - that it's not. It is being mindful and concentrating on the moment, to listen to your own feelings, not less and not more.
Hi @sco :)
I am so very pleased to hear you enjoyed reading this post. Your last sentence made me smile! I do tend to see many things like that too; but I often get a hard time about it. I am already getting a hard time here from the mindfulness aficionados for having discussed the whole concept in a such secular manner! :P
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
I really appreciate it!
Best :)
YES thank you Abby !
Mindfulness, meditation, forgotten therapy arts to the mind and soul. I believe they do have amazing effects..
I had downloaded an app recently from playstore that helps with this, Calm I think it's nice, thought some parts are paid
And I was surprised to hear there are some that criticize it, but I guess everything is subject to criticism lol
Hello my dear @mcfarhat
We do live in a critical world, don't we? The main criticism is about the potential it has to make people too complacent, which can indeed be the case if mindfulness becomes an indoctrination.
But, this is far, far from what we are discussing here. And as a means of pursuing mental well-being I see it like you said: a forgotten therapy for the mind and the soul. And there should be no complication about it! My personal view of meditation is rather a simplistic one and sometimes I find that the best way for me to meditate is through a 30-min Yoga flow.
I actually have the app Calm and I think it is nice too :)
Thank you for stopping by.
I wish you good health and all the best always!
Well great minds .. use the same cool app .. in today's mobile world LOL
Have a great weekend dearest Abby!
Hi @abigail-dantes, I feel like mindfulness is a 're-invention' of the concept of mental-fitness that complements physical-fitness as part of a holistic view on our health and well-being. I don't preach or teach about mental fitness as much as I try to help people see the link between our mind & body, and in doing so help them use different exercise to build on their overall fitness.
You 'homework' or exercise is one of many different methods I use in workshops and classes that I do try to run (using origami techniques and exercises to apply mental fitness concepts), and I would be interested in having a chat about mental fitness from a psychology perspective.
My Gosh ... what can I say about this comment? You are right (Even though I am not very fond of the word 're-invention' here)! The integration of physical and mental well-being is absolutely paramount and you seem to be very knowledgeable about this holistic approach!
Thank you for taking part of this discussion :)
I am not particularly fond of the word 're-invention' either :p I think in a way we continually try to understand and interpret the universal truth about life, so that everything is a remix of ideas from the past and the present.
I think no one can claim to be knowledgeable about the balance between the mind and body unless they know very little about what there is to know, so I prefer to keep learning and sharing what I do know with those that are also striving to learn more about it :)
Beautiful comment @plushzilla
:)
You've broken down these psychological concepts really well, in good bite-sized chunks.... I love this post!
One thing that really struck me was the mindfulness section. I've personally experienced more often than not my life whizzing past me in a blur.
There have been times where I have spent days, weeks, even months feeling as if I'm not 'there'. In the hectic business of life, I haven't remembered to breathe, and this article has reminded me to slow down, and take a moment to be in the moment (no pun intended).
Super well written post as always :)
Hi @chunger :)
Nice to see you here again! I really enjoyed your last comment and now, this one too. As they are always so honest and to the point. I really respect that in people.
I often have that same feeling too ... I repeatedly find myself saying "Oh! It's already Sunday..." , or "Gosh... it is already the evening!". Who would thing that taking the time to just breath or be in the moment would be so tricky!
Thank you for your nice words.
All the best to you :)
Hello @abigail long time no see :)
Honestly, my thoughts are often wavering, sometimes deliberately sometimes unconsciously. Most often this happens when I listen to music. I have a feeling like it somehow relaxes me, i get lost in my private "labyrinths" , wandering around not sure what i " came for". After few moments im back.
As usual, briliant work. :)
Hey @ocupation :)
Good to see you here my dear. Yeah ... I only post on Fridays and at the same time it feels time flies it also feels like it has been a while, right? I like the way you describe the mental state you go into when you listen to music. I am no expert in mediation, and in my non-expert view I see one can do in many ways indeed. For me what you described here is a meditative state. As for me ... I do struggle with sitting there ... breathing in, breathing out ... however, I do feel that when I do my Yoga sessions (on my own) I lose myself in the moment. And like you said, when I finish my flow, it is as if I have 'come back' from somewhere ! It feels great :)
Thank you for your constant support.
All the best for you!
It was hard trying to focus on my breathing instead I was actually focusing on trying to get myself to focus on the breathing process.
Mindfulness and meditation is a very useful process but it takes time to master those acts as I have given them a trial overtime. Really educating blog post here.
Thank you very much @joshuaattat I am still laughing at your comment! It is SO much like that isn't it :D
"trying to focus on focusing..." I love it!! Ahaha ...
Thank you so much for giving it a go and sharing your experience with us!
All the best :)
The pleasure is mine
hello dear @ abigail-dantes another issue of great importance because they are so common in our environment, but we do not see it. therefore it seems to me that it is always good to learn about positive things as negative and channel them to a point of understanding and positive reaction in our favor. As well as making it clear that we ourselves are the impediment to our goals and dreams, feeling self-confident and the self I can are essential attitudes to overcome obstacles and be happy.
about the task you mentioned I have done it several times and it is a moment full of tranquility where our mind rises to a higher level of happiness and at the end of that transition I feel so light of mind and body and I can continue to relax my day. regards
I am impressed @rosnely!! I still struggle with that task :)
On some days I do better than others. But on really busy days all I want id for the alarm to go off!! Ahaha
Oh my Gosh, I have so much to learn!
All the best to you :)
esteemed @abigail-dantes is not an easy task because you do not believe, there are days when I feel like you and my alarm is the cry of my baby when waking hahaha, but when I try it is very rewarding.
Ahahaha
Lovely!
very bright your post! the truth for me is very difficult the first phase that is to deal with my emotional problems, and I seek to evade them! I will try to face them and apply this process of meditation and the implementation of the three phases and I will tell you how it was! best regards!
Hello @oliverquesilva,
I feel the same about dealing with frustrations and other kinds of emotional distress too. Sometimes I can really apply the concept of mindfulness to such situations, but others I just simply can't. One thing I would like to remind you of is that this is also an approach that can be put in place when we are experiencing good pleasant feelings! Particularly being present and awareness :) I suppose it is all about finding balance.
All the best to you & thank you for stopping by.
I'm going to practice it in good situations! thanks for the advice!
Well, they say that Mindfulness can be the golden key to happiness, and it's already a subject at Havard. It is the fundamental task that the human being can undertake, a state of consciousness that would end in good part with the dissatisfaction and superficiality in which the vast majority of societies live. It is how to take possession of ourselves and usually, we tend to live with the "autopilot". Living a moment of pain (physical or psychological) is always bearable from the present. It is the idea of a future full of pain that makes this experience more painful. If we remain in the present, the memory of lived pain and the anticipation of the imagined pain, will cease to have an influence on my current experience and the suffering, whether physical or emotional, will be reduced accordingly. When I am conscious I feel everything more fully. I am happier and more connected to others. I also experience sadness and pain fully, but in a different way.
Since I decided to change my life, I have gotten myself into these things, they are so interesting and transforming.
It was like going on a trip, actually when I do this I feel an incredible peace ..
I learned to accept things as they were so as not to live stressed or without judging if they were correct or not.
Right now I study education and I have a psychology teacher who reminds me a lot of you. One day in classes, he asked us, Who are you? A very deep topic, with much respect one day I could talk about it, it's very interesting!
Dear @cthkrn, it is important to remember that mindfulness is anything but a 'pathway' or 'key' to happiness. It is actually a means to embrace and accept the inevitable suffering of live in a a less struggling fashion! :)
I am very impressed with your way of facing life! Only very few people have achieved that sort of mental well-being where they can accept things without battling against them and, therefore, live without stress. It looks like you have a beautiful future ahead. You could also enlighten many people about how to achieve this!
All the best for you :)
That's right my dear Abigail!
Amen, so be!
it's what I want and what I fight for! And of course, I am trying very hard for people to transform their lives, I am starting with mine, and I am seeing positive results ..
The best for you and yours, happy weekend!
A refreshing post that takes us through our everyday life while teaching us the concept of accepting our situation the way it is and gradually work ourselves out of it. We can only do the above by being aware of the root cause of our predicament .Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kaydee, for taking the time to read and leave a comment that summarizes this whole post so efficiently! :)
All the best to you.
Eyyyy excelente información, sin duda alguna es una buena herramienta para dirigir nuestra vida desde la calma. Es bueno saber cómo nos sentimos tanto física como emocionalmente y como debemos responder ante cada situación. En la vida siempre surgen situaciones o circunstancias que pueden no gustarnos, como el dolor por ejemplo, solo hay que saber que herramientas utilizar para enfrentar estas situaciones. Creo que todos los seres humanos buscamos estar bien emocionalmente.
Thank you @andre15501 :D
hi miss @abigail-dantes our mom @zephalexia has been following you since she started and she's right on doing that because this latest blog you got is really quality content , for my own understanding of the 3 factors of mindfulness, acceptance , acceptance of what happened to you in the past so you will be able to be aware of the things that is far more important , and that is to realize that the present time is what will define your future and that you have to work it out , thanks for another beautiful information miss @abigail-dantes , much love from the minis of @zephalexia 👶😍😘❤️❤️❤️
Ahahahahah How cute 😍!! Great to meet you all :)
You have a new follower!
hi miss @abigail-dantes, good mondah morning to you my super love and idol steemian . and fewling line you are my ate/sister abigail, i feel the connection, ok, on your blog miss abi, mindfulness is a really important aspect on peoples' life, and on it's 3 areas , acceptance , for me we should accept our self first all our weaknesses especially, once we have accepted our weknesses , we will have the strength and correct state of mind to be aware of the things we need to improve on ourselves to be a better person thus bringing us a good attitude to make the most of our present self and through this we'll have a brighter future. now regarding your 3 minute challenge po, i tried to put my phone timer in 3 minutes, i close my eyes, trying to focus, all i can hear for the whole time was chirping of birds and sound of airplane , hehe because airplane always passby in our area , in the sky haha, also suddenly i heard my little one crying wanting to breastmilk , so i then have to feed her , hehe, there you go miss @abigail , i really don't know why i have this feeling of being comfortable telling my stories and how i feel to you, really! there is something , thanks for your very kind attitude towards ua, for that i am loving you more everyday, take care always miss abi and God bless you more and more po 😘❤️❤️❤️
😍 thank you miss @abigail-dantes , you really are like our aunt, we call her momi nang, funny thing is our aunt is telling us that she really is you haha,because of the fact that her name is abigail and her all time crush is dingdong dantes , an actor, inshort she's abigail dantes hahaha, what a coincidence, our mom really loves you it's meant to be for her to meet you , we love you more miss abi , thanks very much for following us po from the bottom of our hearts 👶😘😍❤️❤️❤️
I am interested in how we could apply these principles to young learners so we could train them young. nowadays they are bombarded with so much distractions (internet, gadgets).
Hello @teacheryuyu,
Thank you for your comment :) I am not sure how one would go about talking to young learners about acceptance, being in the present and awareness. But, I am certain that motivating them to exercise their attention and focus is a healthy thing, which actually could be done in a "fun" way, in a group. You would just have to guide them through the three minutes while instructing them to breath in or breath out :) as another reader suggested, they could even do it with their eyes open! :)
All the best.
Thank you @abigail-dantes. A very well written and detailed explanation of Mindfulneess. I have been practicing it for years.
And it works in my daily Life. Thank you for reinforcing this with your Article :)
It is so great to hear the positive feedback of someone who applies mindfulness in their daily life @robertandrew. Thank you for taking the time to read and interact, despite the fact you are already knowledgeable on this subject!
All the best :)