Mind your work (Last part)

LIVE WELL / CJ Rodriguez

Last part

Getting started in the practice

There are a variety of sources to learn from to begin the journey toward increased mindfulness. You can get excellent advice and coaching from subject-matter experts/trainers, as well as from books, compact discs (CDs) and even magazines.

In all of the approaches being taught, integral to getting started is cultivating a meditation practice.

Consider meditation as exercise for the brain. Before we use musical instruments, it is wise to tune them first for optimal performance. The same is true for the brain—the primary instrument for our being. Meditation is the process by which we can fine-tune our brains in order for it to function at its best.

The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) method developed by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn offers four formal mindfulness practices:

• Sitting meditation. In this type of meditation, it is recommended to spend at least 10 minutes each day, at a time of your own choosing, to watch the breath, body and mind.
• Body scan meditation. Normally practiced while lying on one’s back and bringing the attention through the various areas of his or her body and all its minute sensations.
• Meditation with movement. The practice of yoga as a form of moving meditation is ideal, as it allows for gentle stretching, strengthening and balancing postures that are done mindfully, focusing one’s awareness on breath and movement.
• Walking meditation. Complete immersion in the experience of walking itself, and being aware of the various sensations happening on the feet, legs and the whole body.

Aside from the formal mindfulness practices, an informal way of meditation can also be done as you carry out your daily activities. By bringing moment-to-moment awareness into even routine activities, such as brushing your teeth, driving and shopping for groceries, you open yourself up to experience what you are doing, as you are doing it, as opposed to just doing things on autopilot.

There are several mindfulness trainings offered that take place in a few days, while there are others structured in an eight-week curriculum. Likewise, you can also pick up a book or CD on the topic. However which way you choose to begin the journey, what is crucial for a student of mindfulness is to carve out some time to practice and stick to it. After receiving guidance on the different mindfulness practices, the aim is for the individual to adapt his or her practice to suit his or her schedule and capabilities. And because it is a process, it requires time and effort.

What will make mindfulness more than just a good idea is if it is practiced consistently and applied in our daily lives. Only then could it bring about transformational change.