Mindfulness in simple terms

09 Nov Mindfulness in simple terms

On an average, our mind goes through 60,000 thoughts in a span of 24 hours. This statistics indicates that while we engage in our day- to- day activities, our mind is rushing into thoughts of our past and future. Therefore, we are not completely 100% focused on the task at hand. Further, by pursuing these random thoughts, we experience a roller-coaster of emotions inside our minds, which affects the way we feel.  

Mindfulness is the practice or habit of maintaining your awareness in the present moment by being fully focused and engaged in a single chief activity that you are doing. The key philosophy of mindfulness is that there is a lot of beauty in this world, which we fail to experience to the fullest because we are clouded by the millions of thoughts in our heads. By practicing mindfulness, one can remove these clouds and enjoy the bliss of living in the present moment. 

Random thoughts impede us from experiencing the present moment to the fullest and performing our best on the task at hand. When you practice mindfulness,  you learn to train your mind to watch your thoughts and let them pass without affecting you emotionally or subconsciously. Through practice, you can incorporate mindfulness in almost all of your daily activities, such as walking, eating, driving, listening etc. 

How does mindfulness benefit you?

Om Swami, a monk, meditator and author of several books, beautifully captures the benefits of mindfulness in his book Mind Full to Mindful. He states that one of the major benefits of mindfulness is that the beauty, bliss and adequacy of life will come to you naturally. 

Mindfulness makes you calm. You begin to realize the impermanent nature of things and situations, thus making you less agitated, stressed and angry in your day to day life. All of a sudden, the hectic pace of various aspects in your life start to slow down and you begin to enjoy the beauty and bliss of living in the present moment. Your hurdles and challenges will not bother you with the same intensity as they did earlier, because the same challenges which felt like a behemoth suddenly feel diminutive with the adoption of this new mindset.

Your friends and family will begin to notice that you have become more calm, positive and happier. They will be the first to call it out thus validating the benefits of Mindfulness in your overall wellbeing. Situations that earlier triggered drastic reactions from you, will now warrant a more controlled and subtle reaction, as you become watchful of your thoughts. The moment an unwanted thought starts to brew inside you, you will become aware of it and can immediately take corrective actions.

Thus mindfulness improves your overall emotional quotient and physical wellbeing. By operating in a calm state, you tend to focus and concentrate much better on the task at hand. You begin to see visible benefits in your personal as well as professional life.

Regular meditation practices (including Zen Meditation) help you build mindfulness in your life. The Black Lotus meditation app is your buddy in this journey. It is a holistic meditation app that helps you amplify the benefits of meditation by adding kindness and mindful activities in your daily practice. You can pick any meditation pack of your choice, and start your journey towards building mindfulness and truly transform the way you experience life.

You can also read more on Mindfulness in our recently published articles – about the science behind mindfulness, and three mindfulness practices to change your life. You can also build mindfulness without meditation, and you can check the 7 step process for the same.
~Vivekraj Shah