The gift of mindfulness is the present
In a nutshell, mindfulness is all about awareness.
Noticing what your mind and body are doing in any given moment. This moment. Right now.
Hopefully, I’ve got your attention - but perhaps not! Are you thinking about the next meeting you have today? What you’re going to have for lunch? Perhaps some angry words spoken at breakfast with a loved one are still floating about in your head?
How easy it is for us to be somewhere else in our minds.
What’s wrong with this moment right now? What, this one? Yes, the one in which you’re reading these words.
Perhaps you hadn’t considered there was anything to reflect on in this moment, but there is.
In fact, this moment is the only one in which you are living. It’s the only moment in which you can act, your one moment of influence on the world.
It’s called the present moment.
And what a gift.
Most of us are hardly ever fully present in the now. We are in our thinking minds, projecting ahead to a future moment or daydreaming about something that has already happened.
Our bodies get caught up in this mind drama too, responding to things that haven’t actually happened.
Perhaps there is tension building in your shoulders about a conversation that’s yet to happen, might not happen or probably won’t happen?
The response is happening in your body - and yet nothing has happened.
All this stuff is happening in our minds and bodies, and yet here we are, sitting here reading these words.
Pause.
Stop.
What problems do you have right now?
Can you feel the to-do list threatening to swallow up this space?
Can you bring your mind and body into this moment?
It sounds simple, doesn’t it?
And it is simple. But it’s not easy.
Developing awareness is like developing any other capacity. You don’t go to the gym once and expect to come out fully toned. You practise, you build, you work with your body and you put in time and effort.
Mindfulness is the same.
It takes consistent practice to sit quietly, to develop the ability to observe your thoughts and tune into your bodily sensations - to notice what is happening rather than being completely caught up in it.
We begin to see that we have a choice in how we respond to what is happening, rather than simply reacting to it.
And gradually, we may begin to see just how precious it is to be rooted in the present moment.
Being the master of our minds rather than the servant is a superpower.
When we can choose how we respond to things rather than simply react, it can have a huge effect on how we step out into the world.
And perhaps this is one of the greatest gifts of mindfulness:
learning to be here for the life we are actually living.
And if that sounds a little profound, I should probably confess that some of my best wisdom comes from kids’ films.
Master Oogway, in Kung Fu Panda, reminds us that today is a gift - which is why it is called the present 😊
If you’d like to explore this for yourself, I’ll be sharing a weekly guided mindfulness practice on YouTube. You don’t need any previous experience. Just a little time and a willingness to pause.
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