Meditation is a part of my Foundations program; it is how we begin each of the ten sessions. This year we will follow a mindfulness program. Mindfulness is the conscious act of observing your thoughts. It is said that we have somewhere between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day and over 98% of those thoughts are exactly the same thoughts we have had on any previous day. Of those thoughts, 80% are negative! These thoughts take us into rehashing our past or rehearsing and worrying about our future. If we spend so much time in these thought patterns we are not being present for what is happening to us in the moment.
In the words of St. Augustine, “Men go forth to marvel at the heights of mountains and the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of the rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the orbits of the stars and yet the neglect to marvel at themselves.”
Mindfulness is a powerful vehicle for greater understanding of how our minds work and the causes of suffering – those negative thoughts; and as such it can be an effective tool to end suffering. Being mindful of your own thinking is very important. It is said that intention is the crux of all actions and that our intentions shape our thoughts, words and deeds. If our intentions are wholesome, the results will be fruitful and skillful; if the intentions are unwholesome, the opposite will be true. This is how and why our minds, through our intentions and thoughts, are the creators of our own happiness and unhappiness.
Consider these statements:
Intention shapes our thoughts and words.
Thoughts and words mold our actions.
Thoughts, words and actions shape our behaviors.
Behaviors sculpt our bodily expressions.
Bodily expressions fashion our character.
Our character hardens into what we look like.
You may have heard the expression that by the time we turn fifty, we get the face we deserve. This is an interesting insight into how the mind affects the body.
By recognizing our habitual thinking patterns, mindfulness can help improve our sense of well being. It can often be difficult to sit in meditation and come face to face with our fears, shame, guilt and other negative thoughts. Mindfulness offers a space to step back and observe these thoughts without attaching to them. With time, we can learn to acknowledge difficult feelings and thoughts, see their origins more clearly, and experience deeper states of acceptance and peace.
Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Every mindful step we make and every mindful breath we take will establish peace in the present moment and prevent war in the future. If we transform our individual consciousness, we begin the process of changing the collective consciousness.” How can we ever expect to bring peace to the world if we don’t begin with ourselves?
Practice
Here is a simple mindfulness practice you can do. Pick some task you normally do on a daily basis, like brushing your teeth or washing the dishes, and try to keep your attention on the task as you do it, bringing all of your sense to the experience. If you are brushing your teeth, feel and listen to the bristles of the toothbrush against your teeth and gums, and smell and taste the toothpaste in your mouth. If you are washing the dishes, know that you are washing the dishes and take in the feel and the sound of the water, the smell of the soap. Notice any visual delights you might normally gloss over, such as the iridescence of the bubbles. Try it out and see what you notice. You can leave a comment in the section below.