Mindfulness and A Richer Life
Mindfulness is a cornerstone of my practice. As a therapist there are few things I’ve found that work as well and as quickly for as many people as learning to be more mindful. It’s like the mental version of exercise – it’s good for pretty much everyone and helps with pretty much everything. There are so many benefits of mindfulness and I can get really excited about them…ask my clients. But the one benefit of mindfulness I often struggle to describe is the way that coming out of your head and into the present moment creates a much richer experience in life.
When your mind is where your body is instead of in the past or future, you just notice so much more. So, I thought I’d share a few things I’ve noticed recently as a result of bringing myself more fully into the present.
The way the leaves on my plants are shaped in just the perfect way to collect water and deliver it right to the soil. Man nature is brilliant.
My son’s eyes changing to exactly, and I mean exactly, match his gray/green t-shirt the other day
The sun shining into my car in the most beautiful way after my son said “mommy the sun’s coming into the car!”…How many times have I said “wow, honey” without turning around to actually see something like this because I was thinking about the groceries we needed for dinner?
The particular look of hesitation on a client’s face that helped me know they were struggling with something inside and needed some help to get it out in our session
The way my hip muscle responded to a new pose in yoga and helped me know to back off a bit
There is so much to notice in every moment – not always positive, but usually meaningful. When we develop the muscle of mindfulness we strengthen our ability to choose to come out of our mind and into our current experience, and life is much fuller.
What have you noticed lately?
