Mindful Monday- Listening To The Experts Talk About Mindfulness

           Reading and Listening to The Wisdom of Others is the First Step

   Mindfulness is finding a home in so many diverse places. Christian contemplative prayer, Buddhist traditional teachings, secular work to strengthen the ability for happiness, even football teams are hiring mindfulness coaches to improve player's inner life.There are so many voices with positive testimonies of the effects mindfulness has on our minds. I am sorting ideas, writing down quotes, and sifting through concepts. My study is still mostly in my head.

   Dr. Rick Hanson, neuropsychologist and meditation teacher 

"Being mindful simply means having good control over your attention: you can place your attention wherever you want and it stays there; when you want to shift it to something else, you can.

  When your attention is steady, so is your mind; not rattled or hijacked by whatever pops into awareness, but stably present, grounded, and unshakable. Attention is like a spotlight, and what it illuminates streams into your mind and shapes your brain. Consequently, developing greater control over your attention is perhaps the single most powerful way to reshape your brain and thus your mind."

                             Moving the ideas to my heart is step two.

   It takes time for ideas to crack open my heart. I find that I need to prove to myself that I am fully committed. I want to trust that being mindful is not just a fad in my life. That is why I like my meditation app on my phone. To see that I have been in meditation practice for 12 hours since March is powerful to me. You see, I started with five minutes a day and that was difficult. 
  So, I'm listening to what my heart is saying about my new practice.  

When the heart is settled, the learning moves into the bones.

I see glimpses that this may be a lifelong practice. When I climb the stairs each morning to my little office space, light the candle, and settle in, I enjoy it.  Going up is a desire. My body is responding to the wonderful attention of being present. Listening to my body tell me that it needs shifting, or it needs a longer breath, or it needs to let go completely, is very satisfying. 
There are many expects, whose words enrich and enliven my practice but no expert is as instructive as my heart and body. They like mindfulness and I choose to go forward. 

May is a month to explore listening. You can read more about my Year of Mindfulness here.

Join me in a wonderful class on self-compassion taught by Brené Brown and Kristin Neff, 

Starts May 16, click here for more information.