Mother of a Mindset. Step Four: Mindfulness Meditation

Finding time to connect with yourself and notice what you are paying attention to is crucial to gaining a successful mindset. There are many ways to do this and Mindfulness Meditation is one of the most powerful.

A huge challenge facing us today is finding the time to be aware and conscious of what is important to us. The overflowing, fast pace life we lead and our society that has placed importance on external indicators of happiness and success is resulting in the slow yet consistent muting of our “inner voice” – our ability to pay attention to what is most important to us. Every spare minute we have can be filled. Thanks to the technology we have mastered (or that has mastered us) and the schedules we have created in our lives we are closing out any available time to reflect and pay attention to the present moment. We are chasing time, rushing to catch up. What we need is awareness, the ability to step back and pay attention to our purpose. Mindfulness.

According to the creator of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Jon Kabat-Zinn Mindfulness is – “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment and non – judgmentally”. Practising Mindfulness or any other type of meditation for that matter is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our mental and physical health.

Some of my favourites are:

• Reduce brain related problems in old age
• Recognise, slow down or stop automatic and habitual reactions
• Respond more effectively to complex or difficult situations
• See situations more clearly
• Become more creative
• Achieve balance and resilience at work and at home
• Reduced Depression and Anxiety symptoms
• Strengthen our immune system
• Lift our mood and reduce stress
• Sustained meditation leads to neuroplasticity, which is defined as the brain’s ability to change, structurally and functionally, on the basis of environmental input

Learning  about different types of meditation and how to meditate has never been as easy as it is today. Internet-based programs and free apps like Smiling Mind and Headspace are excellent resources to make daily meditation practice achievable. Even starting with sitting still focussing on your breath, counting 10 in and 10 out is a great place to start.

Start now, make this part of your daily routine. The personal benefits are huge and the ripple effect for your families may be even greater. Being the master of your attention, having the ability to choose your response in high pressure/stressful situations and finding joy in the ordinary, is one of the biggest game changers I have seen in the lives of clients and the performance of athletes that I have coached.

Find the time, the place, and the meditation that works for you and enjoy.

 

 

Mother of a Mindset. Step One – Cause or Effect?

Is your mindset at Cause or is it at Effect?

I still remember the day it dawned on me……I had been looking at life the wrong way.  I was a victim to my circumstances. Ruled by my emotions and blamed everyone and everything else for the outcomes in my life.  It seems so simple now (I had to drag myself from old habits kicking and screaming at the time) but the minute I realised that I was 100% responsible for all outcomes, thought patterns and emotional responses in my life – things shifted.

I was living at Effect.  Commonly know as below the line thinking, living at effect bases everything on external indicators.  It is a reactive mindset where you claim no responsibility for what has happened to you.  At effect is self-indulgent, existing in a space where you experience:

• emotions ruling you -reacting to life
• the illusion of lack of choice
• blame
• procrastination
• fear
• excuses
• judgement
• failure

I needed to shift my mindset to a far more resourceful way of thinking, things were already going down a path I knew would not lead to cupcakes and rainbows.  I needed to live at Cause, above the line thinking.  If I was 100% responsible for the outcomes in my life it meant that I was able to change them.  Living at Cause is based on results not reasons, it is where you:

• are pro-active
• responsive to life – choosing your emotions
• are aware of the thoughts you want
• have conscious choice
• love based living
• focussed on you and others
• solution based thinking
• gain clarity

Which side of the line are you on right now? Are you the type of person who is the cause of the things that happen in your life or are you at the effect of things that happen to you?  How you choose to react becomes your reality.

We now know that we are able to change our way of thinking, our brains love goals and direction.  If we, step by step, change the way we think and choose our responses we will get the results we are striving for.  Changing your thinking is a process, a decision made every day to be better.

If you want to re-visit the article where all 5 Mother of a Mindset steps are click here.

To be continued………..