In today’s society, we are so often living in fast forward – doing, rushing, multitasking, and living against the clock – that we miss out on what’s happening around us in the present. The subtle yet amazing moments, experiences, or surroundings flee all too quickly without us noticing. Our minds are constantly living in the future or ruminating about the past instead of the here and now where true life is unfolding. My hope for you is to change this way of thinking, slow down the mind, and begin to live these moments.
Welcome!
I am beyond excited you’re starting this journey with me! Together, we will practice meditation and work towards living more mindfully. Through this practice, we will organically begin to learn the skill of happiness too. There is no end point that once reached, you move on from. This is something you will continually work on hopefully throughout life. The challenge here is creating new habits in the mind and that takes time, patience, commitment, discipline and will power. Our old patterns of thinking are so easy to resort back to, but the key is to consistently keep practicing with me. There are days when you do not feel like it or days when you think you don’t have time. This is where I hope you’ll disregard excuses, because habits only form through regular practice. In the end, this is up to you if you want to make the commitment. I hope you do, because the benefits can be life changing!
Why I believe in meditation and mindfulness:
- Control where you put your attention: our minds are constantly wandering, living in the future and thinking about the past, creating pain, misery and anxieties. Learn to refocus and bring awareness to the present moment. From this, arises a calm and less troubled mind.
- Cultivate possibilities: a still & clear mind means less clutter. Less clutter means better focus and improved productivity. From this, arises possibilities.
- Change the painful habits of the mind: self-judgement, criticism, and constant striving feels like today’s natural way of life. Refresh this mindset and learn self-kindness and self-love. From this, arises optimism and improved self-esteem.
- Live a more vivid life: Things are brighter when you’re actually paying attention. Learn to stop and admire your surroundings – the color of the sky, the smell of autumn and the sounds of nature. From this, arises gratuity and an open heart.
- Become happier: Plain and simple, living mindfully makes you a happier and better human. From this, arises life itself. Something we may all may be guilty of taking for granted at times.
A Few More Proven Facts about the benefits of meditation:
- A study from UCLA found that long-term meditators had better-preserved brains that non-meditators as they aged. A brain that deteriorates less = obviously good. Find the article here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01551/full
- Neural mechanisms literally change for the better in the brain. This research study found that by meditating, we change the default mode of humans – the wandering mind that correlates with unhappiness. Brain activity was studied in meditators finding the default-mode networks (medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices) were deactivated. Less wandering mind = happier life. Find the full article here: https://www.pnas.org/content/108/50/20254.short
- *Read more here about the positive ways that meditation changes our brains: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/02/09/7-ways-meditation-can-actually-change-the-brain/#74ee0b881465
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read our intro about living mindfully. Click below to begin week 1!
Cheers,
UpBeet Sisters
