Larry

themiracleforest:

The Skill of Mindfulness: 6 Ways It Changes Your Life

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.

Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people who are experiencing a variety of psychological conditions.

I also have a personal experience with mindfulness. All my life, I was an anxious person. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t familiar with anxiety and the crippling choke of panic that comes with it.

As a child. no one taught me how to handle my thoughts and feelings, so I was a slave to them for a long time. Only in my twenties, after a particularity dark period, did I discover mindfulness.

Mindfulness was not like all the other non-senses I had read in self-help books before. It actually made sense. So I sat. I sat in meditation every day and tried practicing mindfulness every time those pesky thoughts made my stomach feel so uneasy–which was basically all the time.

Immediately, I felt more in control than ever–for the first time in my life, I could do something for my own well-being. It felt great. Even if an anxious episode was coming, it was not that terrifying anymore, because I was no longer helpless against it. I was slowly taking back the throne of my domain.

And slowly but surely, behind all the chaos, I developed a peaceful self and a skill that I still use every single day. The skill of mindfulness.

I can honestly say that mindfulness changed my life and made me into a better person. It also made life a whole lot easier altogether.

Here are 6 ways mindfulness changes our lives:

1. Compassion

When we spend time with our thoughts, we understand ourselves better. And when we understand ourselves better, we realize that other human beings work the exact same way we do. Compassion becomes natural, because we know that what goes on inside other people is not so different from what goes on inside us.

2. Peace of mind

Once we realize that our thoughts are just thoughts, and they only have power over us if we believe them, life becomes a whole lot easier. Because where there are no thoughts, there are no problems–most of the time. 

3. Control

Understanding our minds brings with it countless advantages. By knowing how our minds work, we understand how we work, and we can claim back control over ourselves. We no longer run on autopilot, we are conscious operators of our machines. 

4. Self-esteem

Once we know that our thoughts are not facts, we also realize that all that negative self-talk we always hear in our minds, that little voice that always likes to tell us we are not good enough–we don’t have to listen to that! Because, oh yes, it is talking gibberish. And under all that noise, we are actually pretty cool. When we don’t listen to it, we’re capable of anything. Once we don’t believe it, there’s nothing left to hold us back. Read the rest>>

(via The Skill of Mindfulness: 6 Ways It Changes Your Life | The Miracle Forest: The Zen Smile of Mindfulness)

larryd128:

Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.                                                                           
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s - Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did in 2011.
7. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
8. Sleep for 7 hours.
9. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

1. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
3. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
6. Dream more while you are awake.
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
8. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more.
14. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

1. Call your family often.
2. Each day give something good to others.
3. Forgive everyone for everything.
4. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
5. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
6. What other people think of you is none of your business.
7. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

1. Do the right thing!
2. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
3. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 
4. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
5. The best is yet to come.
6. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

survivalshelf:

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