© Brypix.com
We only have moments in which to live.
The future is a concept …very useful concept, I’m not putting it down. The past…memory…is also a concept.
But the only time in which our lives are unfolding is now. And “now” has some very, very interesting properties. And if we learn to inhabit “now” more, with awareness, it’s almost as if the universe becomes our teacher.
Jon Kabut-Zinn
from his Mindfulness lecture at Google
. . . . .
When life is stressful and chaotic, I find meditation and mindfulness practice a useful tool for bringing order and calm back into my world.
There is so much wonder and joy to be had in the present, but sometimes stuff happens and it can be difficult to hold on to a positive outlook. Every day brings its own challenges, and past and future worries can rattle my sense of well-being and self. At those times, I find Jon Kabut-Zinn’s breathing meditation exercises incredibly helpful. They’re non-religious, non-psychedelic and a great life skill to practice and hone for when things get really hairy. Big Boy told me recently that if it wasn’t for meditation he would never have made it through his final exams – he was so wound up studying that meditating before bed was the only way he could get to sleep.
If you’d like to know more, you might be interested in this mindfulness lecture posted on YouTube. Grab a cup of tea, it goes for over an hour!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
i marvellously agree with your sayings, i’m trying every day to live & breathe & create & share & be thankful & be happy, enjoying the divine & wise “now” part of our earthly life! and of course i thank you for the meditation suggestion of yours!
Good on you, Gina! Thanks for your lovely comment! :)
I really love this post. I think it’s so important for us to find time to meditate and rest our mind. :)
Thanks Tes. It’s something I wish I’d learnt about twenty years ago! :)
Aha! I’m with you here :)
I have read one of his books so I am going to keep the video for another day. Great insights and helpful tools to restructure one’s Weltanschaung.
Celia I saw spookily (Dame Edna has a lot to answer for) that the mindfulness concept has interestingly been turned into an online course by some lot here in the UK….why do so many people always want to make money out of everything?
When B was in so much pain the other day he didn’t know where to put himself, he went and practised for half an hour, just the first basic whole body scan meditation and he is the most un meditatey sort of person you can imagine. It helped and continues to do so, he wouldn’t do it if it didn’t – I am grateful to you :)
Jo, I guess if it helps people, maybe it can be taught as a course? Some people don’t take things seriously until they have to pay money for it, unfortunately. I’m so glad B is finding it useful. Please don’t send Dame Edna back.. ;-)
So true…
Did you see the start of that new show on ABC1 called “making Australia happy”? Monday nights. Check it out on iview if you missed it. Very interesting. Mindfulness is one of the things they talk to the participants about as a strategy and skill they needed to learn. And it really resonated with me too. This morning Sam rode his bike with me as I took the dog for a walk. I decided to leave the headphones and music behind and enjoy the time talking to him (everytime he circled back while waiting for me to catch up!)…rather than floating away in my head listening to music. Small steps…
SG, I didn’t see this, will check it out on iview. “Happiness” is the new big “thing” lately.
Mindfulness is still not something that comes naturally to me, but jeez I like it when I can. Just to slow that mind down a little…
“Naikan- Gratitude, Grace and the Japanese Art of Self Reflection” is my little book I go to.
(That’s wonderful that Big Boy could adopt those practices so early in life.)
Thanks Brydie, I’ll check out the book. I was pretty pleased Big Boy found it so useful too.
I’m biased, Celia, because I personally believe in mindfulness as a daily way of life, but I also use it in my practice and have seen it help many people through life’s struggles.
Have you tried a mindful eating exercise? It was hard the first time, I tell you! But it’s a very interesting experience…
Honey, it was the best tasting raisin I’ve ever eaten. :)
This was just the right post at the right time for me, thank you Celia. I feel like a piece of knitting with lots of dropped stitches. If you didn’t see the programme spice mentioned – it’s really worth having a look – it’s very interesting. I know meditation is a powerful tool but for me it seems like a helium balloon which I can never grab hold of – so I’ll watch the video. I’m un-meditatey too but if it helps Joanna’s husband like that it’s a powerful skill and worth pursuing isn’t it. Esther Sternberg is worth reading on this topic too.
Jan, thank you. I hesitate when putting up more esoteric or offbeat posts, because I know they don’t appeal to everyone. But I’ve always maintained that I write for myself first and foremost, and this is where my headspace has been the last couple of weeks. I’m so glad you found it useful, and grateful that you took the time to let me know.
I like your knitting analogy – I really do know how you feel. Paul Simon described it well in his song Gracelands:
There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I’m falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Whoa, so this is what she means
One of my favourite sayings is from KungFoo Panda! the little zen master said ” Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery; today is a gift. that’s why it’s called The Present” This is what I say to myself when I get overwhelmed. Let’s treat everyday like it has something special for us – even if that something special is that we just got through it in one piece!
You really said the magic words-non religious and non psychedelic. Nothing wrong with those things but they’re not me! :D
Kung Fu Panda! One of our faves, R!
Lorraine, thanks, that’s why I made the comment actually – I think so many people are put off meditating because they think it’s all going to be new age or religiously based. Really it’s about teaching your mind to be still.
Fabulous post Celia and such a nice reminder! I tend to get too tied up with stressing about things that are out of my control – the controlling part of me I guess. Thanks for making me mindful again.
:-) Mandy
Thanks Mandy! I think it’s the time of year – things get so hectic heading up to Christmas! Take care… :)
I haven’t been able to put alot into words at the moment, searching,meditation, listening to music seems to be helping but it’s a struggle at the moment to find the light!But I’m staying positive and wanting to find happiness in the NOW!Have a great day..Yvette..x
Yvette, I hope the fog lifts soon, love… xx
Thankyou Celia for a wonderful post. I think a sense of equanimity shines through all your posts and even the layout of the page.
Mindfulness can be positively linked to nervous system, brain wave patterns and more, but in the end I think it helps provide a “ground” and a more spacious presence through the challenges of the day. We can more easily let go of the unhelpul “reaction to the reaction.” As Mathieu Ricard (a western monk and one of the Dalai Lama’s collaborators) explains – happiness is a way of being, not a sensation.
It can be a relief to be ( a little) available to the present, as it is. It can also be helpful to remember that mindfulness is about awareness without (or at least with less) judgement. So we have some compassion for ourselves knowing that we will become distracted, but when we notice, we don’t beat ourselves up, but turn back to the now, as it is.
Thankyou again,
Craig
Craig, thank you for your wise words. I always say we choose to be happy, it’s not an entitlement, and we have to actively learn how to be happy and teach that skill to our children.
Your words on compassion are reflected in the breathing meditation exercise of JKZ’s that I use, at one point he comments that the aim is: “familiarising yourself with the nature and ways of your own mind…cultivating a deeper intimacy with it through gentle observations grounded in an awareness that is bigger than thinking, and wiser than thinking, and usually kinder than thinking..”
Thank you for the clip. I will need to set aside the hour. I enjoyed the start but I forgot that I had to pick up the kids for lunch!
Meditation is an anchor.
Recognizing that you live your life is a state of being that allows you to connect with so much that is unavailable if you choose to close yourself off.
I choose the now of life in the light of eternity.
Not psychedelic, but very spiritual for me.
I have been going to Mindfulness on Thursday lunchtimes at work for about a year now, but having read this, realise I have let it slip these past few weeks. I think I’d better start going again – it does help.
Anna, it’s very interesting viewing, hope you enjoy it!
Heidi, yes, agree it’s very spiritual for me too. And centering, grounding and settling.
Choc, what a cool workplace you have to offer that kind of lunch time teaching! :)
Nice reminder for us all to slow down and look inwards, occasionally. Something all too easily forgotten in todays speedy world of instant gratification. Thanks, Celia.
Celia, I watched almost the full youtube, with perhaps only 10 minutes to go. For me, the lesson taken is that I have a very long way to go – disturbing how unsettled I feel if I attempt to “empty’ my mind.
I won’t clutter your blog with my rumblings, but let me just say that it was nice to read this post and it made me think… A lot.
thank you
Amanda, Sally, thank you – Sally, I also found it very thought-provoking, hopefully you found it a good thing…
Oh, yes, no doubt it is thought-provoking in a very positive way!