Meditation for Thursday 27th October 2022
Many times I have said that mindfulness is meditation and meditation is mindfulness. The crucial difference is that mindfulness is a way of meditating as we go about our day-to-day activities. Though many of us ‘formally’ meditate we compliment these times of formal meditation by living mindfully.
There are many definitions of mindfulness but the one I like is “Mindfulness is the quality of dwelling in harmony with the present moment.” You don’t need to close your eyes or sit up with your back straight; you can practice right now, no matter where you are or whatever you are doing.
The goal of mindfulness is mindfulness itself.
With ‘formal’ meditation we have the goal of focusing on our breath, a mantra or a mandala. With mindfulness it’s about being present to what you see, hear, what you are doing, where you are walking, etc. As you practice being present in mindfulness, you begin to relish the beauty of each moment. You are seeking the balance between effort and relaxation. You are engaged, not passive.
Mindfulness is an active way of being in the present.
“When Lisa began meditating she realized how busy her mind was. She realized how her awareness of the world around her, the beauty of nature, the kindness of strangers, etc. was filtered out by her constant activity. When she began practicing mindfulness she remembered to stop, look and listen and voila she began to see loveliness in the simplest things. A walk to the local IGA, once a task to be fulfilled, became a joy as she took in her surroundings, seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary in the most ordinary, everyday things.”
Meditation.
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