What is Mindfulness? Technically you could say that Mindfulness is a living movement. It began over 2500 years ago as a Buddhist tradition and was then adopted Westernly in psychotherapy that greatly expands on this Buddhist tradition.
Defined by Mr. Webster himself; Mindfulness is described as ‘the quality or state of being conscious/aware of something’. He goes on further to say that mindfulness is ‘a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment; while calmly acknowledging & accepting one’s feelings, thoughts and bodily sensations’. It’s also thought to be a therapeutic technique used by many.
That’s deep right? I mean, I can barely begin to wrap my head around all of that. So, you want me to acknowledge my own feelings… and THEN accept them, at the same time make sure to take note on what’s going on up there in ‘ye old noggin’? Yeah, OKAY!
But how many times do we catch ourselves just going through the notions of life? How many times do we say we’re going to change that, and then end up right back where we started? Something so simple as feeling our own bodies can even the most challenging. I mean, we walk and talk all day – but when do we really FEEL the magic of ourselves?
I hadn’t really ever remembered experiencing this until I went to yoga. That was the first time I connected with my body. It didn’t matter whether I looked like the person next to me, or the other one. It didn’t matter whether I could physically do the entire practice. In that moment nothing mattered. Nothing mattered but myself.
Right there, laying on the floor at the end of the class. That was the FIRST time I had ever been present. I felt what it felt like to feel my entire body pressed into the earth. I felt what it felt like to feel my breath move through my entire body. I felt what it felt like to be still, yet fully aware. Do you know how liberating that is? It was so overwhelming (in the best way possible) that it brought me to tears. It was literally like I was right there, doing the practice – and yet I was also magically apart from my body, watching myself experience it and feeling the feels. What moved and what stayed still. What hurt and what didn’t.
This was my first experience with mindfulness.
So, what if we were to live every day like that first day I went to yoga. What if we paid attention on purpose and gave the gentle effort to continuously, consciously, be present with our experience of life?
What if, each day, we paid attention to the way we eat and savored the taste of our food with each and every bite? What if we truly allowed ourselves to feel the sensations of living? What if, each day, we allowed ourselves to take notice of the beauty within ourselves and our surroundings?
Today, I challenge you to pay attention! Be present and pay attention to your life on purpose! What do you notice that wasn’t there before?
How our Mindful March program will work;
Expect to see a post of some sort every day! On days that there isn't a blog post, head on over to the Savvy Serenity Yoga Facebook page and/or Instagram and check there. We'll also post the most up-to-date information in our Mindful March group on Facebook so if you haven't joined yet, please do so now! (click here)
*FYI! You may want to adjust your notification settings on Facebook for our group. I expect there to be more than one post per day, and I know sometimes excess notifications can be annoying throughout the day. Please know that this is definitely not our intention what so ever! So, if you feel the need to turn off notifications and then check in daily - that's quite alright! If you feel you've missed something, feel free to message us on Facebook or via e-mail (savvyserenityyoga@gmail.com) and we'll be happy to help get you back on track!
*If you signed-up using your email, you will get weekly notifications every Friday of what's been going on for the week as well as an occasional mid-week check in. If you haven't yet signed up, please be sure to head on over to the Mindful March page to do so.
Meanwhile, we've got some amazing collaborators who we've already started introducing. The rest you'll be meeting shortly. We've also intertwined some fabulous giveaways into our posts as well so be sure to check for those.
Due to popular demand, the majority of our course will be via Facebook/Blog posts. But, if you don't have a Facebook, that's alright! Just let us know so we can be sure you get all of the content.
**Are the links not working? Leave a comment below to let us know!