If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything.
~ Shunryu Suzuki
~ Shunryu Suzuki
Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is more than just paying attention; it’s a way of being. Mindfulness is having awareness of our experience in the present moment and viewing it free of judgments, assumptions, aversions, or attachments.
Easy to say. Not always easy to do.
Mindfulness is a foundation of all the offerings at 8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC and one that is shared in a way that remains accessible to your real-life conditions. We will help you capture the many reasons why being present is such a gift:
Mindfulness is making friends with ourselves!
By staying present, you get to determine your own experience. You can let go of the habit energy that keeps you tied to your pain and in a cycle of suffering. Instead, choose. Make clear, positive and supportive choices that let you respond instead of reacting to whatever life throws at you. When you know where you are, you can decide more clearly and easily where you are going.
Mindfulness is more than just paying attention; it’s a way of being. Mindfulness is having awareness of our experience in the present moment and viewing it free of judgments, assumptions, aversions, or attachments.
Easy to say. Not always easy to do.
Mindfulness is a foundation of all the offerings at 8 limbs Holistic Health, LLC and one that is shared in a way that remains accessible to your real-life conditions. We will help you capture the many reasons why being present is such a gift:
- Release any resistance, denial, and blocks. Open that “don’t know” mind and heart.
- Learn how to see things objectively vs. reactively. Gain insight into how you are normally triggered by events in your life.
- Move from the busy ‘doing’ life to your authentic ‘being.’ Notice all the small wonders around you!
- Stop ruminating about the past or spending energy and anxiety thinking about future things that may not even take place.
- Engage and become actively aware of all that is contained in your present experience: feelings, sensations, beliefs, perceptions.
- Change your relationship to food and self with healthy awareness, love, and mindful eating.
- Acceptance... not the same as agreement.
Mindfulness is making friends with ourselves!
By staying present, you get to determine your own experience. You can let go of the habit energy that keeps you tied to your pain and in a cycle of suffering. Instead, choose. Make clear, positive and supportive choices that let you respond instead of reacting to whatever life throws at you. When you know where you are, you can decide more clearly and easily where you are going.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Mindfulness and meditation go hand in hand to bring clarity, focus, peace, and awareness into your life.
How do mindfulness and meditation work together?
Mindfulness allows you to pay attention with purpose and to be gentle as you explore what lies underneath the busyness of the mind's activities. It helps you to get to know yourself and to be gentle and kind in that knowing.
Meditation is a practice of "intense lightness" (Chogyam Trunga Rinpoche). It is intense because the practice is demanding, requiring commitment, and light because there's nothing to accomplish when you practice. It is not about clearing the mind of thoughts but rather becoming aware of yourself and the habits that reflect themselves in your experience.
The diligence and effort required is also a way of retraining your brain to actively focus on your desired object of attention. Instead of scattering about or being aimless, with diligence and effort, neurological pathways that have been disorganized through our distracting and impulsive world can now rewire.
Mindfulness and meditation have been scientifically connected to hundreds of physical, emotional, and psychological benefits:
How do mindfulness and meditation work together?
Mindfulness allows you to pay attention with purpose and to be gentle as you explore what lies underneath the busyness of the mind's activities. It helps you to get to know yourself and to be gentle and kind in that knowing.
Meditation is a practice of "intense lightness" (Chogyam Trunga Rinpoche). It is intense because the practice is demanding, requiring commitment, and light because there's nothing to accomplish when you practice. It is not about clearing the mind of thoughts but rather becoming aware of yourself and the habits that reflect themselves in your experience.
The diligence and effort required is also a way of retraining your brain to actively focus on your desired object of attention. Instead of scattering about or being aimless, with diligence and effort, neurological pathways that have been disorganized through our distracting and impulsive world can now rewire.
Mindfulness and meditation have been scientifically connected to hundreds of physical, emotional, and psychological benefits:
- Reduce stress, anxiety, and depression
- Improve sleep
- Curb addictive behaviors
- Increase level of creativity
- Improve self-esteem
- Shift hormonal balance
- Create a higher capacity for dealing with negative events
- Help with physical ailments such as chronic pain, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal issues, and many more...
Intro to Mindfulness & Meditation
By now most have heard about mindfulness and meditation and, peripherally, some of the benefits of living in the present moment… stress reduction, boost in immune health, increased creativity, emotional regulation, change resiliency, …the list goes on. But what does mindfulness really mean to you when you engage with this practice on a daily basis, when it becomes a natural and integrated part of your life? How does the world look and act then? Can you really show up more (and better) simply by tuning in?
In this 5 week program you’ll begin integrating mindfulness into how you view yourself, your experiences, and your life. You’ll learn what mindfulness and meditation are (and are not) and begin to journey with different mindful meditation practices including sitting, eating, and walking. Both formal and informal practices are offered, providing lots of opportunity to benefit from an engaged practice. It’s easy to feel lost, disheveled, anxious, and overwhelmed in all of our busyness and “taking care of everything”. How about a little taking care of you? Come create more peace and presence so that you are can live now for the rest of your life instead of waiting for the time for life to be right. Peace. |
|
|