Five Simple Tips on Bringing Mindfulness to Everyday Life
Photo by Sora Shimazaki, Pexels
The most common misconception about mindfulness to confuse it with relaxation.
Sure, being mindful can bring greater calm and peace of mind, but the main point of mindfulness to be aware of what is going on in the present moment and accepting the present as it is.
Thus, being mindful is about clueing into the power of awareness, which is more momentous than any positive or negative experience that you might be having right now. So, how can you bring awareness to everyday life and benefit from it?
Everyday life is jam-packed with events that challenge us. Meditation is helpful but it is unlikely to be more than a small part of your day. We need skills beyond meditation to trigger our awareness, from waking up to going to sleep.
Here are five mindfulness tips taken from Sayadaw U Tejaniya, a monk who runs a meditation centre in Yangon, Myanmar. Tejaniya’s focus is mindfulness off, not on the cushion, which I find very practical.
Trust in your experience.
Be confident that your experience in the present moment is as important as any other. This very moment represents an awesome coming together of causes and conditions. Trust your experience. It is more than your ego. It is also the only one you have and is as valid and important as the experience anyone else is going through or ever will.
Persist with a light, gentle approach.
People tend to be tough on themselves and what they’re going through. Try instead to engage with a light, gentle approach. Don’t bear down so hard on what you are perceiving, sensing, thinking, or feeling right now.
Each moment that succeeds the previous one had a million, or trillion variations but from our unique, human point of view, many moments in our lives tend to repeat and replicate themselves even as they vary. You have time to get to know whatever it is that arises and you’ll do so with more clarity if you go easy.
Be aware of what is going on and continue to be aware.
Recognize the current state of things by asking yourself what you are aware of. Try to be genuinely curious and interested in what is happening in your experience. What are your surroundings at the moment? Whom are you surrounded by? How does your body feel in the present? What are you grateful for right now? The skill of awareness is a gift.
Don’t try to change your experience.
At least not the one that is going on in the very moment you perceive it.
It is what we all do, so notice that craving for change. The second we try to push away or manipulate the unpleasant ‘now’ or manufacture a preferred experience, we are looking away from the present. Instead, take it in.
Not trying to change the state of current things does not mean being indifferent to an injustice or passively accepting your reality. What it does imply is being open to it, understanding and recognizing it. That is the most skillful way of making a change in any case. You need to pause for long enough to sense the reality of your experience to then make a decision based on discernment, skill, and awareness.
Notice the difference between your automatic preferences and reality.
This is the gateway to selfless wisdom. Our minds are the product of what we are, which is in good part a self-interested organism. They arise from and respond to our needs and desires. Accordingly, we are always labeling the world around us in our thoughts, desires and emotions.
If you can, try to notice the difference between our preferences or judgments and what we are reacting to, whether it is a sunset or challenging person. To steal a quote from the bard, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our automatic reactions.
I have taken these mindfulness tips from Sayadaw U Tejaniwa. Yes, he is a monk, but he developed this approach from his very relatable background that included falling into a deep depression and drug abuse.
With awareness as the backdrop, the suggestion is to engage in moment-to-moment awareness based on trust, gentle persistence, and attention to our automatic judgments. That can open you up to be mindful of every day: at work, home, and play.