VisaliaWellness

In our every day lives, we are multi-tasking all the time without really trying to multi-task. The problem is the multi-tasking we are doing is we're thinking about everything while we're doing whatever we need to get done. 

You ever drive from one city to the next and you only halfway remember the trip? Probably you do. You put yourself on auto-pilot, as most of us do after we've become skilled (hopefully) drivers who know how to do this. Yet the whole trip, it's unlikely you were being mindful at all. Even the best of us will risk accidents in this way. We get lost in either our daydreams or our worries. Mindfulness is a path for bringing us back to the present moment in everything we do. It's a challenge, but one that can be overcome with practice. 

Like anything else in life, the more we practice, the better we will get at this. If you're tired of obsessing about the past or worrying about the future or having your mind racing when you're trying to fall asleep at night, consider this practice of mindfulness to bring you right back into the present. We need to be able to calm our mind and keep them well, uncluttered and not constantly being pounded with our thoughts about a million things.

Mindfulness practice is simple. When you drive, just drive and do not think about anything other than driving. Observe the road, the cars around you. It helps to consider all the other drivers on the road as family, regardless of how much their driving skills may provoke negative feelings. If you are intent on giving other drivers your good feelings with a smile they won't even see, you will be observing your environment much more mindfully. 

This is applicable in every single thing we can do. If you are washing the dishes, wash the dishes. Don't worry about dinner, about work, about missing your favorite TV show. Just be present, mindful, and you will be practicing a calmness that will become part of your life.

If you are at work, stuck in a job you hate, mind racing with thoughts of escape in the future, bring yourself back to the present. Unless you are going to get up then and walk out to find a new job, best to try dealing with being there for the moment. We can return to our breathing in all attempts at mindfulness, focusing on our breath going in and out. No thought, only observe and act.

In Zen Buddhism, our minds when they're jumping all over the place are called monkey minds. Everyone has to deal with this, even the wisest of all. The ones that practice mindfulness, however, learn to calm the mind. They envision a "pure, clear lake" after the stones (thoughts)have stopped rippling the surface.

Ask yourself what you want to achieve with your mind. Do you need more calm, and to live more in the present? Consider this challenge of mindfulness and apply it in any form that fits you and your beliefs.

Jesse Lewis/Journey

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