Mindful in the Moment

For my 21st birthday, quite a few birthdays ago now, my mum gave me a book called Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love by Stephanie Dowrick, because I suppose at the time, life was feeling a little bit shit. So it was an early introduction to ideas of mindfulness, although that wasn't a specific subject of the book, perhaps more an undercurrent to the ideas she presents. I still have the book and it's one that I pick up from time to time now, flipping to a page here or there and and revisiting her wisdom.

Like it or not, the past year of life has presented many opportunities for me to practice mindfulness. In those moments when life feels like it is closing in, when it feels like events beyond your control but that which deeply affect you are threatening to submerge you, when it almost feels like you can't breathe, can't think, and you want more than anything for life to be different to how it is. Those are the moments when you need mindfulness. Or perhaps I should say, those are the moments when you truly learn mindfulness.

In mindfulness, it doesn't matter what may be going on around you. All the worries and niggles and thoughts that can keep a mind racing and a body tense, they all get put aside. It happens moment by moment. Watching the steam rise from a hot cup of tea, watching your arm, your hand as you life the cup of tea, noticing deeply how the tea tastes and feels as you take a sip. That is a moment of mindfulness. Hanging the washing out to dry, pegging each item carefully, folding it again when you bring it in - slowly, carefully, methodically. Mindfully. Feeling the warm sun on your back, truly watching your child be absorbed in the world of play, feeling the breeze on your cheek. That is a moment of mindful.

For all that we experience in our lives, the things we call good and the things we call bad, in all of that, we still function, we still live. We have a choice of either getting caught up in our head, worrying about this, wondering about that, figuring out the other; where our breath becomes shallow and our thoughts are on things far removed from what we are doing in that moment. Or, we can choose to live in the moment, breathing deeply into the belly, attention focused on the task at hand, mind engaged on what is, now. On the one hand it may make no difference, but actually, it makes all the difference. And in every single moment, we have that choice, of being mindful or absent-minded.

Being mindful in the moment may not change what is happening in your life. Things happen that are beyond our control - other people, situations, circumstances. But it does change you - how you breathe, your state of mind, your level of wellbeing. How you breathe your breaths is entirely up to you - shallow or deep. What you focus your mind on is entirely up to you - present or absent. Whether you choose to notice the little things in everyday life or miss them all while you worry about this, that or the other - that is all up to you. All of it comes down to mindfulness, and mindfulness is something that is inherent within us and easily developed. Moment by moment.

So how do you practice mindfulness? It is so simple, and perhaps that's where the difficulty lies. Be aware, right now, in this moment. Are of your breath. Is it deep and restorative, or shallow and weak? What are you doing, in this moment, how is your posture, are you hunched over and tense, or relaxed, with open lungs? Are you carrying tension in your body anywhere right now, and if you are, can you release it? Are you focused on what you are doing, really noticing each action, or are the mind and body in separate places?

When we consciously decide to become mindful, we choose to fully engage with our life. The stressors in life may not go away, but their impact on your life, on your quality of life, on your wellbeing, are so much smaller. So much smaller. It is a skill for life, to be mindful and to live in the moment, and one that deserves more attention, especially in the world we now live in.

The more mindful I become, the more aware I become of how often I'm not mindful. Yet every moment, every breath, brings a new opportunity to be present to life.