Meditation and mindfulness are two overlapping concepts. Both have the ability to add something to your life and help you grow as a person but what they add varies greatly. Meditation helps you either add or take away something from your current experience. By focusing on whatever it is you are wanting to do and manipulating your mind you cause an experience. Mindfulness requires you to stay in the current moment. It requires that you pay attention to what is happening right here and right now. Meditation facilitates change while mindfulness facilitates acceptance.
In today’s post I am going to encourage you to choose an activity. Any activity that you do often. It can be something simple such as brushing your teeth, washing dishes or walking around your backyard. Now set a timer for ten minutes. Once the timer begins start that activity. When you find yourself drifing off into thought bring your mind back to whatever you are doing. It has come to be known that when you pay attention to one activity at a time you actually improve your ability and efficiency to do that thing. You also improve your memory. I often have people tell me that they have a bad memory. My response is no you have not given yourself a fair chance. It is hard to remember something you were vaguely aware of.
Meditation uses the strongest tool in the universe, your brain, to help create a reality in order to bring about a host of different benefits depending on the prompts given. Sometimes I will have individuals place thoughts in a bubble and blow them away. Many find this effective and others find it a waste of time. You will have to experiment to see what woks for you.
Now, to the loving-kindness meditation I have been talking about the last two days. The first step is to sit in a place where you are alert but comfortable. Become as distraction free as possible and then begin. First think of yourself as vividly as possible. Then come to see yourself with feelings of warmth and loving compassion. When you are ready offer yourself the four phrases of well-being: 1.) may I be happy, 2.) may I be safe, 3.) may I be healthy 4.) mayy I be at peace. Next you will repeat these steps for someone you love, someone you feel neutral towards, someone you feel negatively towards, and the community of which you are a part of as a whole
So what do you think? Do you view the two concepts differently? Do you see yourself looking further into either?
Shyra