Hi Jstsr,

Im not sure if laws of attraction is the same as mindfulness..

I think that with laws of attraction..if you are in a happy mood..you attract happiness from people or things around you...

Mindfulness ..I think is concentrating fully on what your physically doing at the time your doing it...

I am still learning about mindfulness...I think it’s an on going learning topic...

Just my thoughts only..

Kind thoughts..

Grandy..

Hi all.

This may sound weird but I try to do mindfulness in the shower, a cold shower for example. So focus on the smell of the soap/body wash/body scrub, whatever you use, shampoo & conditioner, etc. and focus on the cold water. Having a warm shower with shower steamers (usually essential oils inside) is also relaxing.

And when I use my wax melts (like candles but cheaper and you use them in a warmer), I focus on the smells whether they're melted or not. I have a good friend who makes them who I buy from and she has pictures on her labels, so I try to focus on those too, because they're so well made and adorable.

When I feel like colouring in, I focus on what colours to colour certain parts of the picture in. Things like that.

I know that's probably not mindfulness, but oh well

Mb201lover

i think what you have described is mindfulness as I see it but I am far from knowing what it is and isn’t, p

True, I'm not 100% sure of what it is either quirky. It could be different for everybody I guess.

Hi Tayla,

what you described in your previous post is a form of mindfulness. Informal.

The alternative is that you could be worrying about the day/night ahead or ....

Rather you let yourself get into the moment/experience of the shower, with the feel of the water, sight, smell of soap etc.

Tim

Thanks Tim, I'm glad it made sense & I had the idea of it right, lol

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/images/default-source/user-profile-images/avatarfinal_637483749523694963_68c238be-bcb6-477f-ab74-9cce458eb392.jpg?sfvrsn=d1713027_0

Dear Quirky....when you experience it, you will know. Best when it just "happens"to you and you are not "striving for it". I've described several of my mindfulness experiences on here...e.g. sitting in the backyard and noticed the wind chimes above my head (they had been there for years and years) this time I really "focussed" on them...looking at their gentle movements and then some more vigorous ones when the wind blew a little stronger....

I really saw for the first time their beautiful colour..how it changed from lighter to darker and in between depending which way they swayed. I sat looking up at them, properly "Looking" at them for as long as I wanted....(there are no rules here)...nothing else was in my mind at all....except these wind chimes....that's mindfulness! (nothing to do with meditation) love Moon S

Moon thanks.

I have experienced watching a lizard sitting on the log in them shine, watching raindrops fall from a leaf and smelling frangipanis.

Moonstruck,

What do you see about mindfulness that is so different to meditation? Essentially they seem similar to me. One can meditate upon something, wind chimes, or your breath entering your body, which induces mindfulness, as opposed to mindlessness.

How do you see it?

J*

Hey peeps

Just popped in to tell you about what my Counsellor asked me to do last week when I was feeling awfully depressed.

I'd been using the 5 thing strategy to reduce anxiety levels when going through Court hearings etc....

Well she asked me to EXPAND on the 5 things.

Do each one MINDFULLY. One or two per day. We practiced one together which was funny and informative!

I kept on with it every day and think it really helped beat the "low" funk I was in.
Plus doing individualised Exposure Therapy on the PTSD triggers. Yep I had it hapnin' last week!
A real challenge but I've recovered from depression before so she reminded me I can do it again.

Gratefully she was correct.

Listening mindfully to the frogs croaking in my back yard before I hit the sack tonight.
Little darlings.

EMxxxx

Hi there....to me, meditation is emptying your mind..whereas mindfulness is filling your mind, your attention 100% on one thing or scene...concentrating on every aspect of that..whereas meditation is concentrating...or trying to concentrate ..on your breath alone...nothing else. Hope I explained that clearly.

Peace to you...Moon S

Hi Moonstruck,

I think thats why ppl can get very put off meditation practice. Because it's just not possible to try and force our mind to think of nothing. The practice of using one's breath to focus on, or one's walking, or listening and focusing on the sounds you can hear, or a mantra, are all ways to take attention away from the endless thinking that is part of being human. Gives us something else to observe, and if we get distracted by our thoughts, then we can observe this distraction, and gently return our attention back to the breath.

A meditation teacher I has once compared our minds to a river, made cloudy and turbulent by rain and being churned up. As we sat and observed our mind/river, it became slowly more clear, more smooth, more peaceful. I'm sure that at the time I was expecting it to happen by the end of the session, and was disappointed by my lack of progress! Over time though, observing my breath has allowed me more peacefulness, and more awareness of my inner life.

Cheers,

J*

I would point out that mindfulness does not have to be filling your mind.

It can be a leave on the stream type exercise where you let your thoughts (good or bad) come and go and put them onto leaves that float down the stream. The thought are "looked at" with curiosity or without judgement.

Thanks everyone. I like the way each

Eason has a different take on mindfulness well not always that different, but I think it means we can adapt it to suit our own needs. Maybe what I do isn’t the mindfulness of others but it dies help me.

mindfulness to me means observing the external world whilst trying to resist forming judgements, to simply allow things to be, so my internal world remains unaffected and relaxed???

And it sounds so ABC easy yet the practice is constantly constant.

Hi clown of mine and thankyou for being a part of the discussion too! (cute pooch too!)

I wrote this thread topic a while ago yet Mindfulness is still a challenge for me yet I am learning and appreciate the super helpful input especially from new contributors like yourself! Thankyou for sharing your valued experience

My counselling involved using calm and gentle occupation to experience some peace of mind..yet I am welcome to learn new methods re Mindfulness :-)

Thankyou Tim...Quirky...Jstar49...Moon..The Bionic Woman (em) ...mb20lover...Grandy x for helping out too

my kind thoughts

Paul

Hi clown of mine,

I like the point that you make, and would add that what we resist grows. At least, that is the theory, and my experience also. But feel free to test it out, I would be interested in your experience.

So, the meditative approach is to notice, or observe, the judgement, or whatever it is. By accepting it, and not fighting it, we enable it to continue, as smallwolf has illustrated, as if it's a leaf on the stream. that way it, the thought, can pass on by, not disturbing our equilibrium more than necessary. Often by observing, the judgement falls away over time.

I also consider it simple in concept, and difficult in execution. Only by practicing can that process of observation become easier.

Cheers,

J*

Hi Jstar - I totally agree that what ever we practice becomes permanent

and thanks blondguy your thread is thoughtfully cool

Jstar your words are so helpful.

“I also consider it simple in concept, and difficult in execution. Only by practicing can that process of observation become easier.”

So true simple in concept and difficult in execution. That applies to many things.

Hello everyone...

I love sitting on my front veranda and take in everything I can see, feel, hear, smell with a nice cup of tea...to me this is my mindfulness...

Now on the other side of mindfulness...I decided to wash my furs..I ran the water in the bath....sat outside until I thought it would be full enough....Oops. I think I was totally lost in nature outside..because when I went inside I had water running over my bath..into my little hallway and into the kitchen 😂..What a mess I had to clean up..

I found out we can only do one thing mindfully at a time.😂..

Grandy..

When I find my mind wandering and negative thoughts are starting to creep into my head, I try to really observe 3 things right in front of me. It helps me to refocus. For example, I would look out of the window:

1. the sky is so blue - we only get this in our lucky country!

2. I like that fluro shade of green of the leaves under the sunlight.

3. I look at another section of greenery away from the sun. Oh that bottle green of the hedge is so calming.

Hi all,

Oh Grandy that is so true! I am very forgetful and have overfilled a few baths in my time, as well as burnt pots and bikkies....

I think you may have touched on an important facet of mindfulness!

Cheers,

J*

Hi Amanda2000

Thankyou for sharing your thoughts on mindfulness...great post

Amanda2000 mentioned... "I try to really observe 3 things right in front of me. It helps me to refocus" Your post is more helpful than you know as approx 70% of the internet 'hits' to the Beyond Blue forums are from people that choose to 'read only'

You have also helped us understand more about mindfulness

my kind thoughts/appreciation

Paul

Thanks Paul. It means so much to me to hear that I'm on the right track!

Hello everyone.

Grandy I can so relate to your post. One thing at a time, as I get easily distracted.
Amanda thanks for your example, I can do that as long I haven’t started something before hand like grandy.

thought I might throw a question out there. Supposedly for children but I think good for adults as well. The question is... (and it is a mindfulness exercise, and don't feel pressured to answer it)

What 3 words describe you best? Why?

Smallwolf

3 words would depend on what day what mood, right now

sensitive, compassionate, indecisive

why because they came to me first.

what are your 3. Sw, and how does it relate to mindfulness.

some questions can help in grounding you and to focus your mind - allow you to develop resilience and gratefulness. the question is mindful say if it says allows you to focus on yourself, without worry, without judgement, can also be seen as empowering.

my three words would be - logical, planning, honest

and with each word, perhaps embracing the positive meaning associated with each.

Interesting smallwolf. Thats quite a common groupwork excercise- I never thought of it as being mindful.

I don't like it when you have to choose words which start with your initial, cos I don't have many words to choose from lol,.....

my three words to describe me would be:

persistent, kindhearted, grounded.

Thankyou for those moments of mindfulness,

Cheers,

J*