The world can't wait
Mindful for what?
We DO NOT practice mindfulness to:
numb out
quiet our minds
eliminate stress
We DO practice mindfulness to:
wake up from autopilot
befriend our minds
show up for ourselves and others as a safe person in the world
Our greatest obstacle in starting a mindfulness meditation practice, which is the foundation of my Breaking Open program, is usually our own expectations.
Expectation #1: My mind is supposed to be quiet.
Nope. Your mind is your mind. It is your brain/body’s attempt to make sense of and navigate the world. Your mind is doing its best and will continue to do its best. That means thoughts will continue to happen, which is good news because thoughts are the equipment we work with to build our capacity for mindful awareness.
weights : muscle :: thoughts : mindfulness
Expectation #2: I won’t feel the things I don’t want to feel.
In fact, you may feel them more. This can be a good thing, because our emotions contain important information about what’s happening, how we’re doing and what we need. If we can learn to access that information we become more emotionally intelligent and compassionate toward ourselves and others. However, please know that mindfulness can also surface unprocessed trauma. Skillful teachers can help you recognize when this happens and may encourage you to seek additional support.
Expectation #3: I’m doing this for myself.
Yes, your practice will benefit you in many, many ways. You will become more engaged with your daily life and relationships. You will become less reactive to stress. You will respond more skillfully to challenges.
But even greater than these is the impact you will have on the world around you. Your community, your company, even your country will benefit from your increased awareness and engagement.
And in my view, that’s the highest purpose of this work: Changing the world, starting with ourselves.
Mindfulness is a simple practice, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I think this is actually one of the hardest things we can do as human beings: confronting who we are, how we’ve been conditioned and how stuck we are in survival strategies that are no longer serving us.
It takes courage and commitment to break out of those old patterns, but the reward is real.
Our lives are waiting for us. And the world can’t wait.
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