mindfulness and meditation. are these same?
what is mindful brushing, mindful bathing, mindful eating or mindful body care? what do i mean by that?
mindful & natural is my mantra for daily body care routine. once i realized the benefits of this in me, obviously as mother and wife and sister, enforced this on my family. now, enforcing this on you friends.
i read this amazing line in some book which has gone deep in me about mindfulness & meditation
mindfulness is the awareness of “some-thing,” while meditation is the awareness of “no-thing.
living in this world, where distractions is abundant – outside & inside, i believed the simple approach was to start with mindfulness. that is to start with focusing on the some-thing & then move towards no-thing.
mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, surrounding environment and people. when we practice mindfulness, we focus & observe what we're sensing in the present moment rather than living in the past or imagining the future
in meditation, we focus only inward to increase calmness, concentration, and emotional balance. meditation helps in being mindful & mindfulness helps in meditation.
mindfulness is all about being aware and hence we can practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere, and with anyone by being fully engaged in the present moment. mindfulness is simply paying attention and noticing and being present in whatever we are doing.
let’s take the everyday task of brushing or bathing. we don’t observe anything at all. most of the time we do all the tasks of our day like an automated machine. We complete daily tasks just with our subconscious processing
even the 2 minutes, while we are at brushing, we plans the day or relive the yesterday. According to a Harvard study,
47% of our waking time is either in past tense or future tense and the study has proven that wandering mind is not a happy mind.
the biggest advantage of mindfulness over meditation is that mindfulness can be practiced any time, anywhere and with whatever you are doing. But, meditation is formal & inwards. you need specific time set, specific place, close eyes and certain preparatory steps and more.. mindfulness can also be said as whole day preparation for a set period of meditation time.
And hence i chose to practice them during my body care. It’s easier to practice when we are alone in our personal activities. i felt smart that way as i was watering two plants with one hose. Practicing mindfulness & taking care of my body with complete attention
The trick is to use all your 5 senses occupied with the brushing activity. sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Observe points for each sense in every activity that you do and comment about it in your mind.
So, I started with those 2 minutes of brushing to be mindful. I strongly recommend you to try this. It sounds simple, but trust me it's easier said, than done.
Engage every sense on the activity. 2 minutes of brushing with complete focus & observation on the brush or the finger we use, the sensations created by that, taste of the tooth powder, color of the tooth powder, the touch & feel of the powder, firmness of the tongue cleaner, coolness of the water, the sensation when you gargle with water. the way oil transform in your mouth during oil pulling. complete focus only on everything that we do while we brush.
Same approach while you bathe, eat, pee or poo, combing your hair. do these activities with all your 5 senses engaged. While you are at it, let your gratitude, respect & love for your body overflow in your actions.
pl do share your experience of being mindful in your daily bodycare routine.
Wishing you health & happiness in abundance
