Meditation Part 5: Mindfulness Meditation

Where are you right now? What are you doing right now? What’s going on around you right now? Open your mind, open your senses. Be aware. Absorb.

You’ve heard the old saying about blind people, that when someone loses one sense, the others senses get stronger. There’s more to it than that- you can make your senses stronger by simply paying attention to them. We get busy, we get distracted, we get lost in our everyday patterns, and we stop really paying attention.

Mindfulness meditation is all about opening up those closed down senses and being mindful. You try to be mindful about your external world, as I hinted above, but this mindfulness expands to include what’s going on inside you as well. Be mindful of your thoughts and emotions and everything else going on inside your head.
Buddhists have a common phrase that you’ve probably seen or heard before, ‚ÄúBe here. Now.‚Äù That’s mindfulness for you. Get your mind on the here and now and be observant, be aware, be mindful.

On a practical note, start out meditating on your breath as in regular Breath watching Meditation. Once you have explored and become fully aware of your breathing, expand outward through the rest of your body, then the outside world. Try to be aware of as much of everything as you can. Then come back into yourself and be aware of your thoughts, feelings, and inner workings of your mind. Be aware of what you really think and feel, not just what your daily routine grinds into you.

Be here. Now.
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You can buy “Mindfulness for Beginners [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)” at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1591794641/?tag=askdrarca-20

Or “Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (Paperback)” at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401307787/?tag=askdrarca-20