Do you remember what you ate a week ago or what you saw yesterday on the street when you went to work? How beautiful it would be to live each moment being more present, enjoying life connected with your five senses and everything that surrounds you. This is not only possible, but we can begin the transformation process, to enjoy our present more and more, from this moment.
Mindfulness is a practice of Buddhist origin that is more than 2,500 years old. However, in the West it did not appear until about thirty years ago to treat problems associated with stress and chronic pain. Today, the applications of this concept extend to almost all fields, such as education, hospitals and companies. It is a philosophy of life that includes different practices such as meditation, breathing, eating, compassion, etc.
Jon Kabat Zinn, the first promoter of Mindfulness in the West, defines it as “Intentionally paying attention to the present moment, without judgment.” Mindfulness goes beyond breathing for a few minutes to relax. It also invites us to reduce bad habits such as getting stuck in the past or worrying about the future or doing many things at the same time. Some of the benefits of Mindfulness include: helping to manage stress and anxiety, protecting the brain, helping with insomnia, memory, emotional intelligence, relationships, etc.
To better understand how to live on this path, we must begin to live consciously and mindfully, stop being stuck in the past and future and be fully in the moment (present). We must also accept things as they are, treat ourselves and others with kindness and compassion. We must stop trying to avoid and escape unpleasant experiences and approach them with curiosity.
Mindfulness is a way of life and it gives us a space of calm, where one can feel safe, without stress and come to understand oneself better. From now on, we will walk together exploring different ways of practicing Mindfulness so that it becomes a new way of life.
“The inner peace of an alert and calm mind are the source of real happiness and good health” – Dalai Lama
