Making mindfulness make sense isn’t easy even though it’s not the least bit complicated. The thing is, it doesn’t lend itself to words. It has to be experienced because mindfulness is a state of being. It’s not a thought, or a feeling or a doing. It’s being.
So what’s the big deal about being mindful? You get to live your life out-loud, fully entrenched in what comes through your senses and intuition and know what you are experiencing as you are living it. It’s also brings clarity and simplicity into your life. A cluttered mind is not a mindful mind ins spite of the word being mindful[l].
When we bring our attention to being mindful at various times through the day we train our mind to become more aware and more comfortable and desiring of being aware. When people are anxious and depressed they shut down and shut out their environment, senses and body sensations to a large degree in order to feel safer. But it doesn’t work that way and they end up missing a lot of wonderful experiences within and without by doing that.
In my class Group meditation and Mindful Living I teach various ways of being mindful which are states of being such as in gratitude and experiencing compassion toward themself. I’m teaching this class in my office this summer and through the City of Ventura in the Fall. One of the books I draw from for the class is titled Urban Mindfulness. I’d like to share how Jonathan S. Kaplan, PhD, defines mindfulness because he points out both ends of the continuum of attention or consciousness. And I quote:
- Noticing your thoughts, feelings and actions without judgement or criticism
- Observing what’s happening around you
- Being fully aware of your senses moment to moment
- Living in the here and now without resorting to old patterns and automatic reactions
- Exercising acceptance of your own experience whether good, bad, or neutral
I hope you find this blog post clarifying for you. I’d love to have you in the next class where you will also learn how to meditate for your mind, body, and brain health. The next class will be on Thursday evenings from 6:45 to 7:45 or 8PM. It will be in Ventura at my office and will begin once we have enough people, and therefore energy, to make it easier and faster for you to experience meditation’s stillness and wonder.
Contact me if you’re interested. Also, sign up for my email list in order to receive class notifications. Pre-registration required and this class is $55.00 for the 6 weeks.
Kimberly Wulfert, PhD, Licensed Psychologist & Coach in Ventura & Ojai California, virtually
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