What is Mindfulness and how do we use it in daily life?

[stress-freeliving]

Mindfulness has crossed the health-conscious barrier to become a very popular subject across modern society -- from boardrooms to schools, mindfulness proves to be a benefit in dealing with the fast pace of 21st century life.

Simply, when we practice momentary awareness of our thoughts, we redirect and re-purpose their powers to our advantage while minimizing distracting or negative thoughts and emotions.

Here is what the head of Google's in-house personal development mindfulness program says, "A growing awareness of the importance of our emotional fitness is mirroring the same journey of acceptance that physical exercise took in the last century, says Chade-Meng Tan, Google's head of mindfulness training. Tan says that mindfulness opens the doorway to loving kindness, which is at the heart of business success."

Personally, the Alive program's 10 minute 'Mindfulness of Thought' exercise has now become a part of my stream of consciousness with stream being a key word. In this short, but powerful teaching tool, I have now become more acutely aware of the space between thoughts and how to treat them as they arise either appropriately, or awkwardly in my day. We need to accept the thought as a cue to where we are, then redirect it or let it pass as it best suits our momentary purpose, and lifelong mission -- just as we would redirect an object in a stream or let it pass us by.

What I consider a Stress-Free Living principle can be applied to everyone's life with the practice of Mindfulness of Thoughts: our minds can only hold 1 thought at any given moment, within that moment there exists the space to be aware of it, accept it, use it to your value and either let it go or redirect its energies to your greater purpose. We think 1 thought at a time; therefore, you can always, always change the direction of your thoughts to where you want to go instead of where something else has brought you.

I would love to hear other's thoughts on how you are using the Mindfulness workshops in Alive or just using a personal practice of awareness to improve your perceptions and daily lives.

Be at peace,
Clay
Stress-Free Living