How To Be Mindful
How To Be Mindful & Achieve Inner Bliss:
4 Ways To Find Inner Peace And Quiet To Manifest Abundance And Compassion In Today’s Loud World.
// About The Episode:
This episode delves into mindfulness, what it means, how to achieve it, and the scientific health effects it can have on the brain, heart, and other key organs. You’ll learn if you aren’t practicing mindfulness throughout your day, you’re missing out on an opportunity to improve every aspect of your life AND how to say no and be quiet in a busy, loud “yes” world. We’ll hear from Dr. Dean Ornish, and his research from 40 years of study boiled into 4 simple techniques you can use TODAY to achieve mindfulness, and we’ll learn about Thich Nhat Hanh (one of the world’s most renowned Buddhist leaders, second only to the Dalai Lama in fame and influence), and his disciple’s approach to mindfulness in a time of fear and anger in an effort to replace it with compassion, and positive energy-output for inner and outer bliss.
// Introduction:
Mindfulness exercises have been around for thousands of years. The benefits of staying in the present moment – have been recognized for millennia and have recently been acknowledged by modern science. Of course, it is important to define exactly what mindfulness is before we get into explaining why it’s a critical part of a healthy life and how you can achieve it. Have you ever taken a walk on a beach or even in your neighborhood and felt peace and calm as you noticed the birds singing or the smell of fragrant flowers or the salty sea? In that moment, you were mindful. Mindfulness is simply the state of being aware, but not judgmental or analytical. You may be alert to your surroundings, but if you are afraid of them or even excited by them, you are not in a state of mindfulness. Rather, mindfulness is the act of simple awareness of the present moment without judgment.
// Method to Manifesting 101:
According to Mindvalley.com, a website and curriculum designed to unleash the fullest potential of your mind, body, and spirit was founded by Vishen Lakhiani who has a rad story if you ever want to delve in (I’ll link in the episode notes)… He was this computer engineer and senior leader at a rapidly growing Silicon Valley startup. But he faced extreme stress and was burnt out so he took up meditation as a solution and it completely changed his life. He quit the valley to study meditation, teach around the world and go into deep mastery of human development. And Mindvalley was born as a result. Today Vishen is on a quest to remake how the world works in terms of business, politics, education and spirituality. He says, If you aren’t practicing mindfulness throughout your day, you’re missing out on an opportunity to improve every aspect of your life. Speaking of Mindvalley, they have 3 simple exercises that I love to do, that you can use to practice and achieve mindfulness daily, too:
1. Be Mindful of What You Sense
When To Use It: This is a great exercise to do when you are feeling full of anxiety and stress. In those moments, you are judging what is happening to you and you are creating expectations about the future. Instead, focus on what is by using your 5 senses.
The Benefit: You’ll be taken out of your head and into the present moment. You’ll be free from worry, judgment and fear.
How to do it:
• Choose an object near you that you can easily hold.
• Focus your attention on the object and say (out loud if you can), what you see. Describe the colors, textures and shapes. Don’t judge it. In other words, don’t say “I see a gross color green.” or “It looks weird.” Only state the facts.
• Next, focus your attention on how the object feels in your hands. If you can, rub the object on your face or down your arm. Drum on the object or squeeze it. Describe what it feels like without judgment words.
• Now, smell the object and describe it. If you don’t like the smell, don’t say, “It smells awful.” Instead, use a comparison like, “It smells earthy and old, like compost.”
• If you can taste the object, do so. If not, close your eyes and focus on what you taste in your mouth. Maybe you can taste coffee or your lunch, or perhaps you simply taste the air. Describe it in detail without judgment.
• Finally, hold the object up to your ear and listen to it. Tap on it or shake it and see what sound it makes. Focus deeply and listen for even the faintest sound. Describe it in detail without judgment.
2. Be Mindful of What You Eat
When To Use It: Anytime you sit down for a snack or a meal. This exercise is especially beneficial if you find yourself mindlessly eating while watching TV.
The Benefit: Mindful eating actually helps the body digest food better. If you suffer from digestive problems, practicing this exercise can decrease your symptoms by helping your body tune in to the digestion process. This exercise can also help you stay on track with your diet or nutrition plan.
How To Do It:
• Before you begin eating, look at your food and describe what it looks like. Describe the colors, textures and shapes without using judgmental words.
• Next, smell your food and attempt to describe the smell without judgment. This can be tricky because you’ll want to say something like, “It smells great.” Try instead to say things like, “It smells spicy, earthy and sweet.”
• Next, listen to your food. Is it sizzling? Can you hear air moving through it. Use your utensil to move it around. What does that sound like?
• Now, take a small bite of your food. Experience the food in your mouth first, without chewing. Make a mental note of what it tastes like. Now, slowly chew your food and take note of all the sensations. Notice how it tastes on different parts of your tongue. Notice how it feels against your cheek and on your teeth.
• Finally, swallow your food and take a moment to feel the food moving down your throat in into your esophagus. Don’t take another bite until you’ve fully focused your attention on the movement and sensations of your first bite of food. After you do, take another bite and repeat the last 2 steps.
3. Be Mindful of Your Breath
When To Use It: Anytime!
The Benefit: Mindful breathing is one of the most beneficial exercises you can do to bring yourself to the present moment. It can instantly bring a sense of calm and peace in even the most stressful situations. The more you practice it, the better you will be.
How To Use It:
• Take in a deep breath and then attempt to breathe out for the same length of time.
• Now, simply focus on your breath. Feel it enter your nose, fill your lungs and exit through your mouth.
• Notice any sensations in your body as you breathe in and out. Just notice them; don’t judge them or attempt to change them.
• If a thought comes into your mind, let it pass by without analyzing it. Acknowledge it and allow it to pass while bringing your attention back to your breath.
• Do not judge yourself if you get distracted. Just let it happen and bring your attention back to your breath. Allow everything to simply happen around you, acknowledge it and then go back to focusing on your breath.
Here Are Also A Few Additional Tips to Make Mindfulness a Habit:
By practicing these exercises every day, you will very quickly notice the positive effects in your life. The more you take the time to practice, the more benefits you will see.
To make it a habit, set an alarm on your phone for 3 moments each day. Pick a time when you know you’ll be busy and distracted. When the alarm goes off, excuse yourself from what you’re doing and take just 10 minutes to practice one of the exercises above.
Change your alarms every day if you find yourself making excuses like “oh it’s not a good time, I’ll do it later.” Surprise yourself with a random time like 2:43 pm or 10:19 am. If you do, you’ll likely catch yourself in a busy moment where the exercise of mindfulness will come as a relief.
// Ancient Ancestors:
You may or may not be familiar with Thich Nhat Hanh -- He is one of the world’s most renowned Buddhist leaders, second only to the Dalai Lama in fame and influence. With his 100+ books, he’s been an advocate for mindfulness at some of the most fractious moments of the past 50 years. He cut his teeth doing human rights and reconciliation work during the Vietnam War, and then was nominated for a Nobel Prize by Martin Luther King Jr. No big deal. These days, he’s considered the father of “Engaged Buddhism.” In the wake of 9/11, he spoke about compassion, and has lead retreats for Palestinians and Israelis, and American police officers. He wrote a Zen response to terrorism, and the former chief climate negotiator for the UN credits him with helping her broker the Paris climate agreement.
Vox got in touch with Thich Nhat Hanh’s senior disciple, and talked about the Buddha’s psychological teachings on fear. He said in Buddhism, they see the mind like a house, so if your house is on fire, you need to take care of the fire, not to go look for the person that made the fire. Take care of those emotions first; it’s the priority. Because anything that comes from a place of fear and anxiety and anger will only make the fire worse. Come back and find a place of calm and peace to cool the flame of emotion down.
As a collective energy, fear and anger can be very destructive. We make the wrong decisions if we base it on fear, anger, and wrong perception. Those emotions cloud our mind. So the first thing in the practice that we learn from the Buddhist tradition is to come back and take care of our emotion. He said they use mindfulness to recognize it.
There’s a lot in the world to be upset and angry about right now, but Brother Phap was asked if anger is a healthy reaction. He said, “People are so convinced that anger and all this energy will produce change. But in fact it’s very destructive, because you’re opposing. Opposition wastes energy. It’s not healing.
Emotions can be good. Passion can be good, and compassion is very passionate. But compassion doesn’t waste energy. It includes and it understands; it’s more clear. Engage in protest, but not from a place of anger. You need to express your opinion, and you need to go out there and say this is wrong. But don’t do it by saying hateful things. In a way, we Buddhists look more at energy than personality. That helps people to be wiser.
Let’s say you’re super passionate about one of the many issues we’re facing right now (like hard to pick just one right now, right) but if you meet the anger and oppression and hate WITH anger and oppression and hate (even if it’s for the “right” side and reasons), the universe just picks up on the anger energy. You should, instead, practice compassion. Opposition without compassion wastes energy. Compassion is not sitting in your room either; it’s actually very active and engaging. We produced many if not all of these issues as a species, so we are all co-responsible. Our culture, our society, we made them. We love to pick an issue or a person and make them the object. But it’s deeper than that. We have to see these issues inside of all of us.
We’re shocked because it’s like we found out there’s a member of our family that we’ve been ignoring. It’s time to listen and really look at our family. We are afraid to engage, but you can dialogue and debate. It requires a lot of practice to sit there and listen, and not judge so you can understand.
What’s in my heart, and was in Brother Phap’s heart, is the hope that people find the patience and clarity to listen before they start to blame and criticize.
But right now, said Brother Phap Dung, people in our family are still there, and they might need us. Our friend may be somebody who is being discriminated against. You can only be there to offer them that kindness if you are stable. You cannot help them if you are filled with hate and fear. What people need is your non-fear, your stability, solidity, clarity. This is what we can offer.
Our minds and hearts need food. And meditation is a kind of food. So we feed ourselves like that. You need to eat, and your peace, kindness, clarity need to eat as well. Meditation and mindfulness is not just praying; but instead, you’re cultivating this so you can offer it to others. When you sit with someone who’s calm, you can become calm right? If you sit with someone who’s agitated and hateful, you can become agitated and hateful. Meditation is not an esoteric practice; it’s not something you do only in a meditation hall or Buddhist retreat center. It can happen right in whatever activity you’re doing — while walking, in the doing the dishes, while watering the plants. It means you are there, present with calm and peace. He goes on to say, “With a breath, you can bring calm, clarity and reset your thinking.”
The future is built with the present moment and how we take care of it. If you are fearful, the future will be fearful. If you are uncooperative, the future will be divisive. This is very important.
The future is not something that will come to us; the future is built by us, by how we speak and what we do in the present moment. Find your breath, find your mindfulness, and you will find the future you want to co-create with your higher self. Buddhist Monks are taught to embody mindfulness, not surprisingly, but embodying the breath. Mindfulness of breathing helps to rebuild your brain and calm your mind… When you don’t tend to your breath you suffer unnecessarily. You experience unnecessary stress and overwhelm and might even find yourself saying: “I’m so busy I can’t even catch my breath.” If you want to feel better, think better, work better, love better… you’ll need to breathe better. Right under your nose, you’ll find one of the most effective tools there is for shifting your state of mind and increasing well-being. By learning to use your breath as a form of meditation practice you’ll be able to encounter difficult situations from a more grounded and confident place. Daily life becomes a training ground for mindfulness meditation with each deep breath. We are all meditators waiting to be discovered…
// Mindful & Meta-Physical:
Harvard University put out an article that discussed mindfulness, meditation, and the scientific benefits it had on the brain… Meditation has ancient, religious roots, but it has also become a secular practice, implemented to promote wellbeing and to treat depression and anxiety. Skeptics might be wary of this jump from spiritual origins to medical treatment, but mounting evidence suggests that meditation can have tangible effects on the brain.
In a practice called mindfulness meditation, people concentrate on the present moment: on breathing, physical sensations, sounds, thoughts, and emotions. To brains accustomed to planning, predicting, story-telling, wondering, remembering, regretting, and worrying, fixating on the present is unusual and challenging. However, spending time thinking in this new way produces measurable changes in both the white and gray matter that make up the brain.
Gray matter is the portion of the brain that is made up of nerve cell bodies, which release chemical or electrical signals in response to the electrical impulses of the nervous system, while white matter forms connections between the cells, allowing communication between different brain regions. This communication between the gray and white matter in the brain is what constitutes thinking. An interesting Washington post article by Sara Lazar, a Harvard Neuroscientist, stated:
The first anecdotal claims about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and test them in brain scans. What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain. She explains: She was training for the Boston marathon, so she started practicing yoga as a form of physical therapy and realized it was very powerful with real benefits. The yoga teacher made all sorts of claims, that yoga would increase your compassion and open your heart. And she said she’d think, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m here to stretch.’ But I started noticing that she really was calmer. She was better able to handle more difficult situations and more compassionate and open hearted, and able to see things from others’ points of view.
At first, like many, she thought maybe it was just the placebo response. But then she did a literature search of the science, and saw evidence that meditation had been associated with decreased stress, decreased depression, anxiety, pain and insomnia, and an increased quality of life. At that point, she was doing her PhD in molecular biology. So she just switched and started doing this research as a post-doc.
The first study looked at long term meditators vs a control group. They found long-term meditators have an increased amount of gray matter in the insula and sensory regions, the auditory and sensory cortex. Which makes sense. When you’re mindful, you’re paying attention to your breathing, to sounds, to the present moment experience, and shutting cognition down. It stands to reason your senses would be enhanced.
They also found the group had more gray matter in the frontal cortex, which is associated with working memory and executive decision making. So the first question was, well, maybe the people with more gray matter in the study had more gray matter before they started meditating. Makes sense to all of us skeptics out there, right?.
So they did a second study... Taking people who’d never meditated before, and put one group through an eight-week mindfulness- based stress reduction program.
From there, Lazar found differences in brain volume after eight weeks in five different regions in the brains of the two groups. In the group that learned meditation, we found thickening in four regions:
1. The primary difference, they found in the posterior cingulate, which is involved in mind wandering, and self relevance.
2. The left hippocampus, which assists in learning, cognition, memory and emotional regulation.
3. The temporo-parietal junction, or TPJ, which is associated with perspective taking, empathy and compassion.
4. An area of the brainstem called the Pons, where a lot of regulatory neurotransmitters are produced.
...The amygdala, the fight or flight part of the brain which is important for anxiety, fear and stress in general. That area got smaller in the group that went through the mindfulness-based stress reduction program. The change in the amygdala was also correlated to a reduction in stress levels.
The data showed changes in the brain after just eight weeks. In this mindfulness-based stress reduction program, the subjects took a weekly class and were given a recording, told to practice 40 minutes a day at home. And that’s it. In Lazars study, the average was 27 minutes a day. Or about a half hour a day. That’s it. We can all do that to help heal our mind body connection, can’t we?
I’m going to try to meditate mindfully for 30 minutes Every. Single. Day. want to join me?
// Soulful Sendoff:
Please Call Me By My True Name, A Poem By Thich Nhat Hanh
Do not say that I will depart tomorrow
because even today I still arrive
Look deeply: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch
to be a tiny bird, with wings still so fragile
learning to sing in my new nest
to be a caterpillar in the heart of flower
to be a jewel hiding itself in stone
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope,
the rhythm of my heart is the birth and death of all that are alive.
I am the mayfly metamorphosing on the surface of the river,
and I am the bird which, when spring comes, arrives in time to eat the mayfly.
I am the frog swimming happily in the clear water of the pond,
and I am also the grass-snake who,
approaching in silence, feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks,
and I am the arms merchant selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
I am the 12 year old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean after being raped by a sea pirate,
and I am the pirate, my heart not yet capable of seeing and loving
I am a member of the politburo, with plenty of power in my hands,
and I am the man who has to pay his "debt of blood" to my people,
dying slowly in a forced labour camp.
My joy is like spring, so warm it makes flowers bloom in all walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears, so full it fills up the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart can be left open,
the door of compassion.
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As always, thank you for reading along, listening to, sharing, and subscribing, and don’t forget to stay Mindful & Divine.
xo.shana
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Questions? Want to Work Together or Discuss a Future Project? Email shana@mindfuldivine.com