Mindfulness.

[jonathan123 2365]

I have often been asked about Mindfulness and it's relevance to anxiety. This is a philosophy from the East and, like all Eastern practices, it is difficult for the Western mind to grasp. At the outset I will say to the inevitable question; no, I have not mastered it. I try but I find the mind wanders and has to be brought back. Mindfulness is closely associated with Awareness. In fact one could say it is virtually the same thing. It is about being Aware; Mindful of the moment.  Let us take an example. You are driving the car. But are you driving? Your body is and most of it's actions are instinctive but where is your mind  "What shall I get for lunch today?" "What will my next customer say about his order?". And so on. Opps! a pedestrian crossing; nearly missed that! My mind was not on the driving. There is a  Buddhist saying. "When you sit, sit. When you walk, walk but don't wobble". The past is dead. There is not a thing we can do about altering it. The future is the present now continually recurring. When you brush your teeth in the morning brush your teeth but don't think about some future event that may never happen. "How will I cope with the supermarket today? What if the boss gets annoyed with me about so and so".You may find that a little while later you can't remember if you brushed your teeth or not and have to do it again because you were not Mindful. Anticipation in anxiety is a real obstacle to recovery. We 'write the devil on the wall' all the time and wonder why we are anxious. If only we could live in the moment. Animals do. We could take a good lesson from our cats and dogs. Eat when hungry. Sleep when tired. Try not to anticipate events in the  the future that may never occur. Getting 'worked up' over some future event is one of the classic symptoms of anxiety. Yet. invariably, when it comes to the event it is never as bad as we anticipated. Now be honest, is it? The boss may be having a good day after all. The doctor turns out to be a nice understanding person. When in the Army I found that when going to a new camp rumours about the Sergeant Major at the new camp being a right swine filtered back. Invariably these rumours turned out to be untrue. A lot of anticipation and  worry for nothing. Give Mindfulness a try. If just for a short time. It can help.   Regards.  J.

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[Junie 26]

A refreshing topic, Jonathan!  My Mother was born and raised in Japan, in a Buddhist temple, in fact.  I certainly appreciate your post.  

[jonathan123 2365]

Hi. Junie. Buddhism is about the only religion that seems to concentrate on our state of mind.  A religion that is all about the here and now cannot be bad. I am not 'religious' in the accepted sense of the word but but I do not believe we should throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is a lot in religion and the wisdom contained in some of the sayings that can help toward a peaceful state of mind and we could all do with that. At the same time I do feel that religion and politics should be avoided on a site such as this as one can get well worked up over one's beliefs which can only cause further anxiety!   J.

[Gilly 1086]

Excellent stuff J, i have promoted it to 'recommended posts' Mindfulness indeed can be difficult to master but it can be extremely rewarding. I do try and use it myself, at times it's easier to do, and so helpful, at times it's too difficult, practice makes perfect eh?