Developing a Mindfulness Practice
There’s no better way to detach
from unwanted thoughts and feelings than by using the practice of mindfulness.
I recently watched a 12-minute YouTube video, Befriending
Your Mind, Befriending Your Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn, that nicely sums up the
essence and uses of mindfulness. I also recommend two of Kabat-Zinn’s books, WHEREVER
YOU GO, THERE YOU ARE and FULL CATASTROPHE LIVING—USING THE WISDOM OF YOUR BODY
AND MIND TO FACE STRESS, PAIN, AND ILLNESS.
Here’s my major take-away message
from Kabat-Zinn’s video: mindfulness is
a practice. As he says, we usually think of a practice as a rehearsal for a finished or final product. However,
mindfulness is an end in itself, not
the means to an end. It’s the doing
of it that makes all the difference, the goal of which is not simply being, but
the simplest kind of being—not thinking or feeling but experiencing the moment.
Kabat-Zinn describes a process
we’ve all encountered, that of our thinking mind “galloping” away. This natural
occurrence happens most frequently when we’re not busy doing, especially when
we’re trying to fall asleep. It’s as if thoughts rush in to fill the void when our
attention is not placed elsewhere. For some folks, this experience is disturbing
because the thoughts that fill the vacuum consist mostly of what’s wrong with
them and various and sundry ways they’ve failed to live the life they wish to
be living. Kabat-Zinn calls this state of being the defa...
Source: Normal Eating - Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs
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