Mindfulness: How To Master The Science of Be Here Now

''Everything is created twice, first in the mind and then in reality. ''

Mindfulness.
A practice I try to add to each of my days.
Mindfulness represents the act of being aware.
It means to fully be present, and to take a moment to observe everything that surrounds us in this precise moment: from our thoughts, to our emotions, to our feelings, our surroundings, and the way our body feels.
But most of all, being mindful is adopting an attitude of non-judgment toward the thoughts that our mind generates. It means to accept everything that is.
Mindfulness is an exercise that we can practice almost anywhere.
It is a bit different than meditation, even though both practices can be combined into one.

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Whether we are in the bus, in line at the bank, or at work sitting, we can all choose to switch our mind from the autopilot mode to a deeper state of consciousness and awareness.
This is why I believe that mindfulness is a choice and it is also a discipline, as it is not possible to be at all times in an active conscious state of awareness, when we go about our daily lives, in our hectic modern world.
Just like clouds come and go, we should see the thoughts in our mind as a temporary experience.

The thoughts we think, create the emotions we experience, which then manifest themselves through the sensations our body feels.
1- Thoughts
2- Emotions
3- Sensations

When we practice mindfulness, we become more aware of the rumination that takes place in our mind. And so, we can learn to stop ourselves when our thoughts take a wrong turn.
Most of us go through life disconnected from ourselves.
Our mind wanders from the past, to the future, without enjoying the minute that is available to us now.

Here is a fascinating fact/quote which I’ve read in a book a while ago:
''A study by the National Science Foundation discovered that, on any given day, our brain generates some fifty thousand thoughts. That averages out to about fifty-two thoughts a minute during waking hours. Overall, our minds are on something other than what we’re doing 47% of the time. And unfortunately, when our minds wander, they usually aren’t visiting a happy place. For most of us, learning to be in the moment takes some work, because we have to undo what’s become a deeply ingrained pattern. ''

Another one came from a delightful book called ''Stumbling on happiness'' written by Daniel Gilbert, a psychology professor at Havard University, who also actually starts off his book by saying that the human being is the only animal that thinks about the future.

''When people are asked to report how much they think about the past, present, and future, they claim to think about the future the most. When researchers actually count the items that float along in the average person's stream of consciousness, they find that about 12% of our daily thoughts are about the future. In other words, every eight hours of thinking includes an hour of thinking about things that have yet to happen.''

I think that the beauty of the outside world can liberate us from the virtual world to bring us back home.
The past few weeks, whenever I would go for my daily walk outside, I would pay attention to my feet that were truly feeling the ground beneath me. I would look at the clouds, and I was just simply too fascinated. Sometimes, when I’m in the state of flow, I just cannot believe how beautiful and powerful the earth is. Everything that surrounds us is a miracle.
And then I start to become like Allan Watts and tell myself ''Blue is not blue''. ''Red is not red. '' It may sound a little crazy as I don’t like to find myself idolizing people, but man there is just something about Allan Watts…. I’d give anything to bring him back to life.

I recently looked up the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, as even though it is not something I experienced myself, it is a problematic that deeply touches me.
And so I saw that most of the twelves steps were related in a way or another to putting trust into a high power and through seeking help and support through meditation, prayers and spiritual awakening. It really moved me because I then realized even more how powerful all of these techniques really are. And now more than ever, I see how they can literally save and change one’s life.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, a microbiology Ph.D. who taught at the University of Massachusetts, created a program in the late 70’s called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), as he was inspired to use the principles of meditation and mindfulness to treat his patients.
Since the science of neuroplasticity is simply amazing (and can help us rewire our brains!), studies have shown that from regular and consistent mindfulness practice, we can change our brain function and structure. I just can’t seem to believe that a daily practice of mindfulness can physically change our brains. That’s how much power each one of us has!

A friend of mine recently said to me a simple but powerful phrase:
''You are your own lotto ticket''
I believe it so much.
The secret to happiness lies within ourselves.
It lies in the ability to keep our attention in a calm and serene state of mind.
When we have found it, we won’t feel like looking for happiness anywhere outside of ourselves. 🔮 💫