Undoubtedly, becoming mindful has had a massive surge of popularity over the last few years, with hospitals, schools, corporations, performers, athletes, and the military embracing the practice and even endorsing the benefits on both professional and personal levels. More than just a fad or keyword, mindfulness has become firmly established as a legitimate tool to improve the mind-body connection. While the two are very similar, you may have observed yourself that mindful is not synonymous with meditative.
When most people are encouraging mindfulness, they’re referring to a state of awareness. Think attentive and alert but clear and focused, which is a great state to put yourself in, especially when you need to be “in action.” On the other hand, becoming meditative allows you to be an observer in time/space with no attachment to the next thought, no emotion, no expectation. Think more mindless than mindful, a passive way of being present in the moment.
Both of these states have value, which you can initiate by employing a variety of different methods, and both have the potential to help you to gain a more level-headed perspective even in the most stressful of situations. Becoming mindful allows you to be more fully available for the task at hand. Often people complain of having poor memories when it has to do with a lack of focused concentration. When we’re moving through our day, constantly distracted and trying to multitask at every turn, we can’t be fully aware of everything going on around us. We can only split our attention so much before the current project we’re working on suffers.
One problem for many of us arises because we feel rushed to accomplish excessive tasks, so we never think there’s enough time. Therefore we try to do too many things at once, thinking we’re consolidating and saving time. We need to stop and ask ourselves, “Am I going to make the time to do this right or to be forced to find the time to do it twice?” What if we could save additional time by improving our memories? Imagine how much extra time most of us would have if we didn’t have to look for misplaced items if we just knew or remembered where we last had the thing we needed.
More often than not, it’s not our memory that’s failed us. Our lack of concentration and awareness in a given moment usually accounts for our inability to recall a specific situation. If we weren’t present when the event took place, how could we remember? It’s almost as if we were never there like it never took place at all. Think about how much of your life has passed you by in a blur. So many of us have missed out on the joy of a given moment because we were unable to be fully present, locked in our minds cycling through conversations of the past and worries about the future.
What if there was a way to hit pause, allowing us to be present enough to enjoy the moment? Some methods and techniques can help us do just that without sacrificing any output. In fact, with regular practice, you will see how it’s possible to increase the amount one can accomplish while also improving the quality of work. Being focused and aware of the activity we’re engaged in enables us to be more satisfied with the outcome. It also helps to elevate our mood and provides the encouragement we often need to keep up with the change in our habits.
Lapses of mindfulness happen to the best of us, and, along the way, you’ll probably find specific experiences or emotions that make the remaining present a challenge. However, by understanding these barriers, you can be more patient with yourself as you develop the awareness to recover your mindful state with more ease every time. Stay tuned for our upcoming post, where we’ll identify some of the most notorious obstacles to becoming mindful and how to avoid falling back into the chaos.