How to Practice Mindfulness (Buddhism)

27 de abril de 2013

Mindfulness is the ability to see things as they really are, without the cloud of feelings, prejudice, or even mood.

Mindfulness is part of the eightfold path of Buddhism and can be a key part of meditation.

It is also used in western culture as a therapeutic technique to reduce stress, pain, and even help with depression. It can be used to find and maintain a sense of gratitude toward life, or even to improve your running style!

Edit Steps

Learn more about mindfulness. You don't have to practice Buddhism or even meditate to practice mindfulness, but learning more about its roots and uses can help you understand how to practice it better in your own life.
- Right Mindfulness is the seventh element of the eightfold path of Buddhism, and adherents are taught to "constantly keep their minds alert to phenomena that affect the body and mind".^[1]
- Mindfulness Meditation^[2] encourages practitioners to do much by doing nothing.^[3]
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCR), and other approaches apply mindfulness to western psychological therapies.^[4] In these it is more often considered an awareness and acceptance of the present.

Begin your own mindful meditation practice. Find a quiet place, then focus your mind on the present moment. Don't think of other things, but sit in silence. Begin with ten minutes and meditate daily. Be aware of your thoughts, but be willing to release them and stop thinking about or focusing on them.

Focus on your breathing to help you eliminate distractions. As you look toward a mindfulness meditation, practice focusing on nothing... or consider choosing a mantra - your heartfelt word or phrase that distills/instills mindful moments.

Practice mindfulness outside of meditation. Be aware of your body, your emotions, and what is happening at that moment. Notice sensations. Identify cues that will bring you back to your mindfulness - such as an hourly chime - but otherwise reduce distractions and busyness, and practice living in the moment.

Consider gratitude. As you become more mindful of your present, recognize the things around you that you may have taken for granted.

The challenge of using breath as the anchor is that the attention is likely to keep moving with the flow of the breath. It is necessary to bring the attention to a single point.
- Practice bringing the awareness to the point in the nostril where you can feel the breath touching the nostrils.
- Focusing on the belly movements as one breaths in and out is a also a powerful method to bring the attention to the present moment.