How do you cultivate mindfulness?

As one cultivates mindfulness, they gain insight that happiness is not a quality brought about by a change in outer circumstances, but rather unhappiness comes from attachment to thoughts and the reactions that follow toward clinging to pleasant feelings or avoiding unpleasant feelings.

Mindfulness is a faculty we all possess and a skill to be developed. Being attentive to this moment is a skill that grows with practice. To encourage its development, we set aside judgements or expectations – we simply relax and settle into awareness of this moment. . Mindfulness relies on an important characteristic of awareness – awareness by itself does not judge, resist or cling to anything. By focusing on simply being aware, we learn to disentangle from reactions and preoccupations.

Mindfulness is not something restricted to specific forms and meditation techniques. It is intrinsic to our being and is expressed through all our actions at every moment of our lives. Washing the dishes, driving the car, going to the toilet, answering the phone – all these are opportunities to practice mindfulness. As an art, mindful living is something we can continue to learn and express throughout our entire lives.

We begin our practice of mindfulness with our breathing through meditation . Our breath is always with us and unites our body and mind. Full awareness of breathing is an invaluable resource which we can utilise at every moment. Mindfulness of breath brings about calm, ease, joy and concentration.

We simply attend to the breath, getting to know it as it is: shallow or deep, long or short, slow or fast, smooth or rough, coarse or refined, constricted or loose. When we get distracted by thoughts or emotions, we simply return to the physical sensations of the breath. We are training the mind, heart and body to become settled and unified on one thing, at one place, at one time. Resting with, even enjoying, the cycles of breathing, we are less likely to be caught up in the emotional and mental events that pass through us.

Practice is the key. Only after experimentation will you find that a teaching or a practice is in accord with your own intelligence and experience.

In practicing in a group, as a community, our practice of mindfulness becomes more joyful, relaxed and steady. We are bells of mindfulness for each other, supporting and reminding each other along the path of practice. With the support of the community, we can practice to cultivate peace and joy, within and around us, as a gift for all those whom we love and care for.

There are many elements we can use to help develop mindfulness in our daily lives. Gathas are mindfulness verses which can help us to remain aware and concentrate on our activities during the day. Before we turn on the TV, for example, we might use the following:

The mind is a television with thousands of channels

I choose a world that is tranquil and calm so that my joy will always be fresh.

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Sources:

The Miracle of Mindfulness – A Manual of Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh. Ryder, London 1975. One of Thây’s early books describing practices and experiences of mindfulness in everyday life.

Mindfulness Meditation Gil Fronsdal insightmeditationcenter.org

Portions of text courtesy of wikipedia, a free "copyleft" source.