How to be Mindful & Present… What a topic!!! (translation: what did i sign myself up for?!) This is one of those times where I question my qualification for advice giving, but I am going to feel the fear and do it anyway! I write what I am called to even if i don’t know if I am capable. Someone will benefit from whatever I have to say, someone will find exactly what they needed.
I feel like everyone makes mindfulness out to be a chore, similar to how many see meditation. Or it becomes stereotyped as a “hippie-dippy” thing. Let me tell you something, it is not hard to be mindful, it is not something you can only practice if you are a spiritual airy-fairy hippie. You can be mindful if you are an Atheist, you can be mindful if you’re Catholic, Christian, Mormon, or Muslim okay? The only requirement to be mindful and present is that you are a living being. No one is perfect in being mindful and/or present. It is a process of learning and growing awareness, but it’s not a chore. Like most spiritual practices it is an art of creating habit.
To be mindful you don’t have to be vegan or quit drinking alcohol or start meditating for hours everyday, you simply just need to choose to be more mindful. Mindful of your body, energy, attitude, perspective, how you react, etc. The trick to being mindful is being aware, or holding an awareness. While mindfulness and awareness are very similar things you can’t have mindfulness without awareness. Holding this awareness doesn’t have to be a super conscious effort either. Simply set your intention of being more aware and mindful and you’ll catch yourself catching yourself. You’ll notice your mind light up in the midst of a situation and go, “Step back a second, there’s a better way to handle this,” and you’ll notice calmer solutions come to the surface. From there the awareness will get more and more easy, normal, it will become a habit.
As for being present, let’s clear some more misconceptions. You don’t need to never think about the past again to be more present. You don’t need to never think about the future again to become more present. You don’t have to banish all of your worries the second they appear (crazy idea: sometimes they are valid and should be looked at thoroughly before being acted upon. Mindfulness and present-ness at work, be open to all possibilities). Being present is, like mindfulness, as simple as choosing to be present. Be in the moment, all in. If you’re present is currently rough drafting your future then cool. Be there. Being present also involves being flexible, any given moment all plans could change. Trust that any changes are of the highest good and go with the flow. Honour the Now, acknowledge that the only constant is change. Just be wherever you are and move through that time with peace + calm. Freaking out over things isn’t in alignment. You can experience and honour your feelings as they come up, but they don’t need to be dramatized or amplified. Ride out the wave and move on.
Namaste
~Riley Reign
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