Right Mindfulness the 7th factor on the Buddhist eightfold path. It means to be aware of what is arising while also accepting whatever is present and not evaluating the moment as good or bad. The mind is a vibrant interplay of many kinds of mental states, which can almost be related to weather systems. Sometimes it is sunny or stormy, or grey, or whatever. The mental states and emotional states go hand in hand. We can train our mind to read our bodies carefully and be in tune with the emotions and thoughts that pass through.

Our mind interprets our body's sensations and then creates an emotion out of what we feel. We sometimes get caught into repetitive emotions, and perhaps we haven't always read them accurately. There is a flip side to many states. For me, I used to get very nervous and feel awkward all of the time, but then I realised that those sensations were the same as excitement, so I had to reframe the sensations in a more positive way so I didn't get hooked onto a negative judgement about myself. That freed me up to be more present. What is the fuel for your emotions? I think many of our fear responses are an unwillingness to feel something new because we imagine what something will be like, judge the experience mentally, and then try to resist it instead of being present and mindful and open. If I was to ever quit drinking coffee, the fear of what the withdrawal symptoms will be like prevents me from ever wanting to try to quit and so I have no desire to stop drinking coffee. Fear is an interesting emotion for being mindful in because it's so potent and confronting which is why the potential for growth inside of fear is so grand....if we are willing to feel into it.

How can you read the sensations present in your body? Observe your body, actions, feelings, imagination, impulses, and thought processes to gain insight into the nature of your mind. Check in with what is careless or dismissive or obsessive or negative.

Mindfulness is the essential key into attracting all of the other factors of awakening. It is about slowing down and coming into a sharper quality of paying more attention to what is happening in the immediate moment. It is being open, quiet, alert, and aware of the life force inside and all around us. Also notice what your mind deems to be pleasant or unpleasant and how you might cling to your likes and push away your dislikes.

Our minds are obscured by delusions so often because we want things to be a certain way, but with mindfulness in action, there is an unfolding of clarity and we enter into a calm and grounded state of not being swept away by the tides of distracting thought. It's not a process of doing, but of undoing. All of the habit patterns of reactive thoughts can be released in mindfulness. Have you caught yourself in an elaborate conversation with yourself inside of your head about a person or a situation, and then you've snapped out of it and realised where you are? That's coming back to the moment. It's so simple but it is not easy and that is because we are always evaluating and categorising and judging and planning and pondering, which is useful but also veers us away from the rawness of the moment. When we are not mindful, we are automatically identified with arising thoughts that naturally occur. When we turn our attention onto this stream of thought, we can awaken to this trance we have found ourselves to be in. It's a powerful moment to recognise when you have been on autopilot and not really present. There is no need to judge yourself for being terrible at being present because in that very moment, ignorance has been transformed into knowledge and that leads to wisdom.

Reflect:

Do you think with the power of being mindful, that you can alter the way you see things in this world?

Can you stop and observe what is happening inside and around you right now?