Mindfulness is a whole-body-and-mind awareness of the present moment. Instead of focusing on daydreams, anticipations, indulgences, or worry you focus on one particular thing at a time.
It’s slightly difficult in this day and age to try to be focused on just one thing at a time, considering how much mass media we are exposed to on a daily basis. This only makes the need to separate ourselves from the events of the real world all the more necessary.
Meditation: I pursued a variety of different meditation practices, both through the help of Youtube videos, and various reference websites. What I found particularly useful was mindfulness meditation where you focus on your eyes on certain objects and just think about them, letting your mind drift seamlessly from a mirage of different images presented within your head. Embedded below is something I find rather useful to use in said meditation practices:
Thinking: Having the right mindset of being focused on the present is important. This doesn’t mean pursuing a “yolo” attitude, although my adventures at SunGod this weekend would largely be seen as such, but being able to divide time in a way where you focus on your attention on one particular thing at a time.
I did so through various activities which included
1) Reading, inevitably finishing the first book of the Game of Thrones book (I read many chapters every day)
2) Working. I have to run detention a few days a week at Katella High School, and in ensuring the room maintains proper silence, I have some time to self-reflect upon the events of my day, and the events of my life.
3) Talking to others. Sometimes the best solutions in life comes at 6:30AM when you’re seeking answers to questions you really shouldn’t be asking. Even though sometimes you ponder and daydream about things that can never happen, you have to remind yourself the good things you have in life, and try to create an optimistic environment and outlook based upon it.
Being mindful of the world in which we live is largely not just thinking about ourselves, but largely about the people around us, how our actions can affect the lives of anyone around us. In my everlasting struggle to change the world, I hope to maintain the right state of mind to do so. Being in a state of depression would NOT help me achieve these goals. I give myself a B for the week.
Next week: Right Concentration (LAST STEP!)
