23 Nov How I Started My Mindfulness Journey

Let me crack open my past and give you guys, some insight on what mindfulness is, and how I started my journey.

Initially,  I couldn’t bear the pain of sitting erect. I couldn’t even control my breathing, my diaphragm would hurt, and so did my neck and back.

Meditation was something that I didn’t like because I couldn’t get comfortable while I was practicing it.

I struggled with being consistent with meditation until one day, I gained some insight on how to develop mindfulness and use it practically.

Why is mindfulness important?

Mindfulness can give you really cool realisations about yourself, aside from making you calmer and happier, and that really stuck with me.

What does mindfulness even mean?

It is quite simply,being in the moment, and observing yourself. Without any judgment or thought, all you’re doing is just observing yourself.

How to develop mindfulness?

The most powerful way to develop mindfulness is to pretend that you are outside your body and observing yourself.

Pretend to sit next to yourself and watch yourself as though you’re observing in third person. Record and observe everything you do, outside the body.

Look at yourself as though you were looking at a chimp in a zoo. Sit next to the cage and watch yourself do your thing.

Don’t add any ideas, judgment or criticism. Just observe

This is how you can be more mindful. We are self conscious human beings and have an ability to introspect, instead of being primal and just doing things without thinking.

Notice what is happening throughout the day.

You might think that you are already conscious  of what you’re doing. For example, I am conscious of typing these words that you are reading right now. So am I not being aware right now?

No, I am not.

All I want to do is meet my deadlines, so I am exhibiting consciousness in a very primal form. I’m just going with the flow of my daily task list. I have evolved to use tools like the computer, but have I fully evolved?

One thing that is so shocking, unless you study or do any conscious work through meditation or contemplation, is how much of a stimulus -response animal you are!!

You’re walking through life, like a chimp, just doing stuff, without realising that somebody is watching you. You are not really conscious unless you watch yourself while you are doing something.

So let’s begin by becoming more aware of the most mundane things. Just sit down for lunch, and be aware of the fact that you’re sitting down and digging in. Once you start doing this, you start to realise that someone is watching you and you’re becoming more conscious of every action.

When I became self-conscious, I found out that I was not really as conscious as i thought.

For example, I was conscious of the fact that I do things like snapping while driving,  if somebody cuts me off without turning the indicator lights on. I rambled on about how dangerous it was, in my mind. This process of reacting to it was okay, just as long as I remembered, that some one called myself is also watching my reactions unfold.

So don’t hold back the emotions, we can’t control everything, but we can become aware of the fact that we are getting angry or upset.

This activity of knowing that the “spirit of my present” is watching, without any judgment, and observing me as I conduct myself,  eventually leads to making small changes in life.

I held myself from snapping at my friends during a heated discussion because I became so positively self conscious and aware of my actions! That was a true achievement and I had made some profound progress through mindful realisation!

As I improve myself on being 100% aware, I can feel like I will be able to handle bigger issues without reacting to it negatively.

I know that down the road, as I juggle my work, relationships, traffic or external factors, these everyday issues are going to be mitigated, by being truly aware everyday!

Nehita Abraham

Nehita is a mindfulness expert who writes extensively on lifestyle management, wellness and ways to lead a healthier and a happier life. She is a part of Aware’s expert team on meditation. She is also an avid artist who spends most her time dribbling amazing stories through art.