One of the keys to practicing meditation is practicing mindfulness. To get better at meditation and mindfulness one can practice various mindfulness exercises. When one thinks of exercises one generally thinks of physical exertion, however in this case all the exercise is done mentally. Mindfulness is when you focus on something and pay attention to something. You are consciously directing your awareness on something.
Do not get confused between awareness and mindfulness. You can be fully aware that something is happening, but this is not mindfulness. When you focus intensely on something and notice the feelings and minutia’s of the action or thoughts that is when you are practicing mindfulness. If you allow your thoughts to wander to other subjects instead of focusing, that is not practicing mindfulness. You must have a purpose when you are practicing mindfulness and concentrate on that purpose.
One exercise to practice mindfulness is to begin thinking of something that may have happened to you and it invoked a particular emotion. If your purpose is to focus on this emotion then don’t let your mind wander in other directions. Perhaps other emotions such as anger or revenge may want to work themselves into your thoughts. Your goal is to suppress the other emotions and maintain a clear focus and purpose. You must learn to control your mind and not let random thoughts and emotions control you.
Practicing mindfulness exercises can be done every day while doing common tasks. This may include focusing on your feet while you walk into a store or your job. Note how your feet feel and how they see and understand the surroundings. Normally you just walk and you have no awareness of your feet because you have been doing it for so long and it comes naturally. You are so used to just doing and not thinking therefore the exercise is becoming aware of sensations that you have previously ignored.
Another exercise would be to focus on your breathing. Become fully aware as you inhale and exhale. Block out all other distractions and thoughts. If your mind begins to wander regain focus on your breathing. Notice your breath, notice how your lungs rise and fall. You breath all day long and you normally aren’t even aware of it since you do it naturally. See how long you are able to stay focused just on your breathing before your mind tries to wander and think of what might be around you or what tasks you need to complete today or in the future. After a little bit of practice start timing yourself and see if you can increase your focus time every day. Start with a 30 second timer, and then work yourself up to a minute then two minutes. You will be surprised how much progress you can make with this simple exercise and a timer. But you need to practice it every day or you will not make progress as fast.
A final mindfulness exercise would to be to focus on your hands, but from your hands prospective. Notice what they feel and how they touch objects. You may gain a certain gratitude for your hands as you focus on them and realize all the things they do for you on a daily basis.
Regardless of the exercise you choose to practice if you don’t actually do it there will be no benefit. This is something that does require work, but as I previously mentioned not physical work, simply mental work. For some mental work is actually harder than physical work. As with anything else in time if you make it a habit it will become easier and easier.
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