The power of practicing mindfulness CANNOT be over-emphasized. Ever. It reminds us that LITERALLY this moment is the only one we can TRULY be ALIVE in. If you are ready to fully be ALIVE and LIVE your life fully, keep reading for 3 foundational lessons that mindfulness teaches us.
The Moreness of Life
"There's got to be more to life," says everyone at some point.
If we are willing to lean in and be fully conscious and aware in this NOW moment, we will be able to unlock the door that opens the way into our greatest unfoldment - into the moreness that life has for us.
The foundation of that unfoldment is as a result of our humanity getting to RELAX its hyper-vigilant SURVIVAL SKILLS. Because once we realize that we ARE surviving, that is the moment we begin to thrive. Can you feel the embodied sense of unfolding right there? Survival is like a tightly closed fist; thrival is a relaxing and unfurling of the fingers to an open palm.
Mindfulness NOW
"Mindfulness" is the practice of being consciously tuned in and aware of what is happening in this moment. It is an awareness that simply witnesses, notices; it is awareness that carries no judgement about what anything means or doesn't mean. Non-judgmental awareness means noticing the nuances of life without labeling it right/wrong, good/bad, or that is needs to be any other way than it is. We tend to have a tricky time pulling back from judgement, so just begin to notice what comes up for you.
Thich Naht Hahn says, "Breathe in and know you are breathing in. Breathe out and know that you are breathing out." That is the BEST way I know how to describe what it means to be mindful.
Mindfulness, then, is simply the practice of doing that (knowing what you are doing while you are doing it) for a period of time, over the course of broader time, to expand one's conscious aliveness NOW.
Here's the deal: Most of the time, we are not mindful. We just aren't. Not because we are bad or wrong or dumb or un-evolved. It can be summed up by this: We are human.
If you are reading this, you have started waking up to some degree and you notice a readiness to live more fully into yourself. 🎉Go YOU!🎉
This is a forever journey of continual opportunities to wake up and infinite possibilities to live more and more fully, so the degree of wakefulness or the level of fullness doesn't actually matter (sorry to break it to you). What is important is that you recognize you are on a journey of moreness, thrival and living fully. Right NOW it is invaluable to have a beginner's mindset, because RIGHT NOW you are on the precipice of your own expanded self, and you have never been right here before!
Out of Survival and Into Thrival
Congratulations on being right HERE, where you are. Say, what is HERE like for you?
{take your time to notice three qualities of this NOW moment for you}
I'm curious...did any of those qualities make it into the non-judgmental category?
Seriously - I'm just curious. It is interesting to notice. There is no need to pass judgement on your bend towards being judgmental; that totally misses the point! Mindfulness says, "oh, would you look at that - I was just judging myself as {right/wrong}," and then goes back to breathing in and out.
So that's that. You are HERE NOW. You are breathing. You are noticing. YOU, my friend are being Mindful!
Right HERE, right NOW, there are three things that are TRUE:
1. You are safe.
2. You have more than enough of what you need.
3. You are connected in the great web of life, A.K.A. You are NOT alone.
These are the foundation of our unfoldment from what was to what will be, from survival to thrival; these provide the doorway for our own evolutionary upgrade. They sound basic and straight-forward enough, but let's peel back the layers a bit:
You Are Safe
The first foundational truth you are invited to receive from practicing Mindfulness is that You Are Safe. You are. There is no tiger about to jump out of the bushes. There is no threat on your life in this actual moment. Which moment? THIS ONE! The one right NOW where you are reading these words on the screen.
A part of you might be thinking something along the lines of, "Yeah, maybe, but any second {this terrible thing} could happen!"
It could. We live in a world of infinite possibility, so...it's possible.
But do you see what you just did? You skipped over THIS now moment and you jumped into the future - some moment that hasn't even occurred yet! It doesn't even exist yet!
We have got some sneaky parts that slip us into the future in such a stealthy way. No matter how sneaky they are, or how many milliseconds away from the present moment they pull you, warning you of inevitable, impending DANGER, if it isn't RIGHT NOW, you have an opportunity to call them out on their scaredy-cat shit.
In a loving way. Perhaps with your hand on your heart and your eyes gently closed as you turn within.
It could sound and look in any way that reminds your heart of the truth that RIGHT NOW, you ARE safe. It could be for 1 breath or 5 breaths. It could be for a moment or an hour. You could say words out-loud, to yourself, or just in your mind. The key is being present and aware of the reality that in the RIGHT HERE AND NOW MOMENT of time that you are in, you are okay. You Are Safe.
You Have More Than Enough of What You Need
The second foundational truth you can receive from the practice of Mindfulness is that You Have More Than Enough of What You Need.
The caveat? It's in THIS moment, not 5 years ago and not this time next week. RIGHT NOW you have more than enough of what you need.
Hang on - I feel like I heard a sassy part chime in. Did you hear that? It sounded to me like she said, "nuh-uh! I don't have enough money RIGHT NOW to _______."
Oh honey. I hear you. And...do you NEED that right now? I'm gonna go with NO. I believe that if you did need it, you would have it...because in this moment, you have more than enough of what you need (see how that works?). So if you don't have it, you must not need it RIGHT NOW. I'm not even saying you should/shouldn't want it or should/shouldn't have it at some other point in time. I'm just saying that RIGHT NOW, you have more than enough of what you need.
So many of us carry a quite detrimental {and faulty} belief that there isn't enough, we don't have enough, we aren't enough. Other words related to this include lack, limitation, scarcity.
If you notice that you air on the side of a scarcity mindset, great! Because you noticed! Just keep noticing. And then breathe in and know you are breathing in. Breathe out and know you are breathing out.
The invitation here is to S L O W down, so that you can begin to notice a.) what you have, b.) your relationship to "need" and c.) that when it really comes down to one breath at a time (like, that slow) you actually do have what you need. When you notice your amazing mind skipping ahead to when the rent is due in two weeks or how you'll coordinate childcare for your event on Monday, notice. And then breathe in and know you are breathing in. Breathe out and know you are breathing out. You Have More Than Enough of What You Need.
You Are Connected in the Great Web of Life
A.K.A. You are NOT alone.
Okay - I love this. You and I are connected RIGHT NOW, through these words. The moment in time where I am writing them is somehow, mind-blowingly synchronized to the very moment you are reading them. They exist in our co-created reality that really only comes to fruition when we are both present...RIGHT NOW!
Point? It can really, really, look like we are separated from one another in life. Whether you live alone (which is its own variety of obvious), or you live with someone you feel estranged from, or you live with someone whom you desperately love and would go to the bathroom at the very same time as them so that you NEVER have to be apart EVER!
Our physical body-boundaries present a life-experience of separation. Our emotional bodies can tell us we are lonely. Our genius thinking-brains can tell us something is wrong with us because we are separate and feel lonely.
But that is fluff. It is like a house of mirrors that can distract us away from the true truth that is underneath, behind, waiting quietly in the stillness of this moment: We are not alone.
This foundational truth, that is revealed to us through the practice of mindfulness, REALLY invites us to S L O W even further down than we already have. It invites us to know that our bodies, souls and minds hold the imprint of our past, our dreams for the future, hands we held, hurts we carry, love shared...basically, all of life lived resides within the essence of who we are. Through mindful, non-judgmental awareness, our conscious mind has the opportunity to reconnect with this unbounded connection to life. You Are Connected in the Great Web of Life.
Be Now and Thrive
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
I am safe.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
I have more than enough of what I need.
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
I am connected in the great web of life.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing on.
As you practicing being fully conscious and aware in this NOW moment, you open the door to your greatest unfoldment - into the moreness that life has for YOU. Relax, unfurl your heart and THRIVE!
Rachel Sartori is an Embodiment and Wholeness Coach. She is kick-ass and heart-centered whether she is showing up as a workshop/retreat facilitator, a private coach, a writer or a speaker. Rachel invites you to exercise your soul, and participate in the healing of your own heart and the world around you. With Rachel, all is welcome, all the time.
Read: Exercise Your Soul: Ignite Healing and Wholeness in your Life and Live from the Inside Out
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