Happy New Year!
None of us know what 2015 will bring however how much of
2014 can we remember? How much of 2014 did we actually experience rather than
move through without thought or appreciation? How much subtle joy, peace and
harmony surrounded us only to be dismissed or drown out by all of the noise in
our heads?
In the book “How To Train A Wild Elephant” author Jan Chozen
Bays, MD gives an example of how we ‘autopilot’ through life. When you were first learning to drive a car
you would have both hands on the wheel, you were wide-awake paying complete
attention. In the beginning you would correct or even over correct to stay in
your lane. As time went on you were able
to drive, talk on the phone, listen to music and I can’t tell you all of the
things I have seen people doing in their car while driving! Pretty good huh? However
how many times have you left your house arriving at your destination 20 minutes
later but don’t remember a single thing about the drive? Were the lights red or
green? Your mind simply took a vacation into some pleasant or distressing
realm, as your body deftly maneuvered your car to your destination, this is
autopilot.
How much of our life is spent on autopilot? In that pleasant or distressed place that is
either focused on our past or future neglecting the present and actually
missing the adventure? Life is happening
every moment and being alive is being present in the moment. Mindfulness brings
us back to the present, which is where life is taking place not reliving past
memories like a broken record or striving for what we think we want.
I often hear people talk about being mindful and this may
mean different things to different people. How does one become mindful? If you
want to be stronger you have to exercise and if you want to be better at
something you need to practice. The same is true for mindfulness; you can
become mindful through exercise and practice.
There is a lot of information in the book about mindfulness
and it’s benefits but for this book club you do not even have to buy the book,
unless you want to of course. I will
post an exercise each week; you can do them while you go through your normal
daily routine. The author goes deeper into the discoveries, journaling and
lessons learned and I think the deeper dive is really worth it. In this forum I
am simply going to post the exercises for those who want to give them a try and
maybe even share their thoughts.
This is a no pressure group. I encourage you to invite other
likeminded individuals and if this just isn’t your thing feel free to leave the
group without any hesitation or guilt, no feelings will be hurt. Do what is
right for you!
I will post the first exercise on Sunday Jan 3, 2015.
Namaste
GG
