02/12/2024
This definition is a mash of some of my favorite definitions of mindfulness from some of my favorite authors, teachers, and humans (like ). When I first heard a definition of mindfulness, it was familiar because I’d had little spaces of it here and there - laying in bed and feeling the fresh sheets on my skin, smelling the scent of laundry, feeling the rolling pain of cramps, or the warmth of the sun on my skin whenI was on a walk. I’d had presence in my body before but often it didn’t last long before my mind started to take me somewhere else. It was almost scary and uncomfortable to stay with attention in my body for too long — the emotions made me think, I felt urgency to figure stuff out so I could feel better, I got bored in my body, I judged myself harshly for how I was feeling or what I was thinking. I saw the definition and knew I wanted those qualities of non-judgment, openness, and gentleness with myself but I didn’t know how to do that. It felt impossible and the inner judgement and distractibility seemed insurmountable. As with most things the answer for growth isn’t easy - it requires awareness and regular practice.
In Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat Zinn talks about the map and the journey. Reading books, talking #, thinking - these are all the map, but the map itself isn’t the journey, the landscape, or the actual terrain - it’s just the map. You’re not in the terrain just by looking at the map. Practicing, sitting down in sangha (intentional community) and applying is the landscape. Just showing up is the most important thing you can do to start walking the terrain.
Join and I for mindfulness class on Sunday 2/18, 2/25, and 3/4/24 to start cultivating your practice now! If not now, when, right?
