July/August - 2009

Dear Friend,

Here in the Northeast USA, summer has come late this year.  After weeks on end of April rains and the dimmest, wettest June on record, the sun finally peeked out in July.  Finally it feels that summer has begun,though the calendar says it is half gone…an interesting dissonance.  Taking a deep breath in today’s sunshine, I notice both my joy in the arrival of beach weather and the disappointment of summer’s tardiness. Breathing out, I let go to the attachment to each emotion, simply paying attention to what is present at this moment.

This issue focuses on mindfulness by taking a look at what we may be doing when we are not mindful. I end with a few of my favorite and simple ways to invite myself toward more mindfulness in daily life.  Rather than a discourse on meditation, this is reading for the beach…

The purpose of this newsletter is to share with you simple and effective tools for personal, spiritual and professional growth.  I have used these tools in my own life, so I know their power as well as their challenges. I have also utilized them in more than thirty years of professional work with others as a life coach, educator and psychotherapist.  I offer them to you to try, adapt, and practice as methods to nurture your own growth.

Please send this issue to any friends who might be interested.  Also, I would welcome your thoughts or comments on this newsletter. Have a great month!

Warmly,

Natalie

Natalie@EldridgeWorks.com

P.S.  Interested insome support in clarifying your purpose or taking action on your purpose?  Contact me for a complimentary coaching callto explore whether coaching could help you reach your goals!

“ Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way:

on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

I like this succinct definition of mindfulness from Wherever You Go, There You Are (Kabat-Zinn, 1994).  It frames mindfulness as an active state of attention, an intentional process, and focused on the here and now without attachment or criticism.  The simplicity of the definition belies the discipline required to maintain mindfulness beyond the nanosecond.  By embarking on the journey toward more mindful living, the first lesson involves the many ways in which we are not mindful in our everyday lives. 

Mindlessness

Mindlessness can be experienced as a kind of sleepwalking through life – a way we can delude ourselves about who we are and what is important to accomplish - so that we don’t notice that we are missing the very lives we have.  We may race through the day with little awareness of what we experience, of the tenor of our connections with others along the way, or the temperature of the air we breathed. 

Kabot-Zinn reminds us that meditation practice, as taught in Buddhist traditions, is “fundamentally about being in touch with your own deepest nature and letting it flow out of you unimpeded.”  We are in a mindless state when we try to be other than who we are - when we tell ourselves a story of who we will be or where we are going rather than paying attention to our inner experience of this very moment.

Habit is a form of mindlessness, as we repeat the same patterns over and over without attention, reflection, or intention.  Habits are helpful – we need to rely on many habits to keep us healthy and thriving.  However, many of our unintentional habits can take us on a detour from our experience of the moment,and then we become caught in a seemingly never-ending loop.

Multitasking

The increase in the amount and speed with which multiple media sources bombard us with information has become a significant challenge to the cultivation of mindfulness.  One response to this phenomenon has been the reification of multitasking.  A term coined to describe “the concurrent performance of several jobs by a computer” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), it has generalized in our vocabulary to refer to how we manage our time to increase productivity.  While we may be productive in doing two tasks at once, managing multiple tasks increases the difficulty of intentionally paying attention to one. So while we may be driving, talking on a cell phone and listening to the news all at the same time, there is less room for mindfulness as our attention is pulled in so many directions.

Mindfulness meditation is perhaps described as the antithesis of multitasking.  The process of meditation involves settling the body in a centered posture that can be maintained comfortably for some time, and then being still.  External stimuli to the senses are reduced by closing the eyes or lowering the gaze, by finding a quiet place to enter silence.  Or, the sense fields are intentionally filled with some specific focus such as a chiming bell, a burnin gcandle, incense, chanting, etc. As the stimuli are reduced, the mind is directed on an intentional focus such as a mantra, or the breath flowing in and out of the body.  Singularity of focus to the present moment, with an accepting heart, is worlds apart from the rush to productivity and the future which multitasking cultivates.

Mindfulness Bells:  5 Ways to Cultivate Mindfulness Now

Meditation practice is a rich and time-tested method for cultivating one’s capacity for mindfulness. I encourage you to explore a meditation practice with a teacher, a book,or a sitting group.  What I offer below are some of very simple methods for waking up to the moment, which can be practiced anywhere, anytime. 

1)     Take a Deep Breath

The breath is such a powerful tool for cultivating mindfulness because we are always breathing. We cannot help breathing – and we cannot stop breathing. However, we can intentionally change the pace or pattern of our breathing, and we can pay attention to our breathing.  Doing this reminds us to pay attention to what is already happening in the moment.

Now, while you are intentionally taking a deep breath and noticing it go in and out of your body, let go of all judgment about how you are breathing. Just notice.  If thoughts about the next breath or the last breath emerge, don’t engage…just let them float by.

Now, take another deep breath.

2)     Look

I am amazed at how often I can go for a walk in a beautiful place, get lost in thoughts, plans or worries, and return with no memory of anything I may have seen during the walk.  This is an example of how we can go through life sleepwalking, and multitasking, while never noticing the flowers.

Accepting this truth about myself,I practice intentionally looking around in at least one moment of each walk –being quiet and allowing my mind to completely focus on the visual landscape.  Noticing and accepting what my eyes see, without judgment, brings me a step closer to mindfulness.

3)     Listen

Similar to looking, I like to practice allowing my ears to inform me of my surroundings.  To do this, I usually need to close my eyes to enhance my attention to sound. I notice birdsong, chattering squirrels, people passing by, dogs barking, the wind in the trees, cars passing in the distance, a plane overhead…all without judgment.  I let go of striving to hear or not hear certain things, and simply practice accepting whatever sounds come my way.

4)     Enjoy a Stretch or Yoga Pose

If you have ever taken a yogaclass, you know how the practice helps you become aware of your body and breath in new ways.  Becoming aware of your edge- the place between efforting and passivity – this is a mindful and refreshing place.  Sometimes I just choose a pose,or a stretch, and focus all my attention on where my edge is in that pose.  Noticing this, I am more aware of myself in the present moment, with both insight and compassion.

5)     Eat Mindfully

What do you usually do while you are eating?  Do you read, discuss business, watch television, argue with the kids, or think about what you will do when you finish eating?  We can get so wrapped up in another activity that we can forget we are eating.  Usually we stay aware that we are eating, but that is not mindful eating. 

Try clearing your attention of everything but one thing you are eating – perhaps a perfectly ripe peach.  Take a moment to think how that peach came to be: the tree it grew on, the earth and rain and sun that nourished that tree, the hands that picked the peach, and how it found its way to your hand.  Then slowly enjoy the peach, savoring its sweetness and holding your attention to the experience of eating that peach –biting, chewing, swallowing, digesting. Notice that the peach has become a part of you, and that you are linked to all the ways that peach came to be as you enjoy its gifts.

May you awaken to whatever this moment holds!

“There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

~  Action On PurposeChallenge  ~

Try one or more of the suggestions above, and see if they cultivate mindfulness.  If one does, do it more often.  Enjoy the benefits!

~  In the News  ~

Next Steps - Want to get going on a plan for the kind of life you want to lead in the future? The 2Young2Retire course can help.  A certified facilitator, I offer the course by tele-conference.  If you are interested in more information about the course and updates on the time and starting date clickhere.

Would you like to share your kind words about Natalie's coaching, facilitating, speaking or writings? If so, please send them to here.  We gratefully welcome your comments.

At www.EldridgeWorks.com, my virtual professional home, you will find information about coaching and psychotherapy services, as well as more about me.  I would love to hear your comments about the website, or the Action on Purpose newsletter. Contact me at Natalie@EldridgeWorks.com.