Mindfulness

[pinklollipop15]

Just wondering if you practice mindfulness?

What does it mean to you and what are your favourite techniques?

For me, I like guided meditations and colouring in!

[Fluttershy1]

Hey @pinklollipop15, 

I love colouring on my iPad and drawing, also listening to music helps me. 

[cloudcore]

I love colouring in and stretching/yoga, they centre me and allow me to release tension and stress!

from cloudcore

[Ma60]

I use mindfulness by thinking about my safe place. Sometimes I will listen to a meditation whilst I am tuning into my safe place. Very calming and gives my head a break 

[BPDSurvivor]

Hi @pinklollipop15 ,

Very thought-provoking questions about mindfulness! Thank you for sharing!

Well, I've just a mindfulness class. It runs weekly, and is currently online due to our lockdowns here.

To be honest, I don't like mindfulness because when i do it, it proves how 'unmindful' and 'distracted' i am! 

However, I attend these classes because I understand the importance of mindfulness, especially as the world places more and more pressures on people. I also do it because for anyone to be good at something or to get better at something, they must practise! How can I expect mindfulness to 'work' when I most need it if I never practise it?

This is why I do it. Out of all the apps, the one that helps me most is Smiling Mind - i like how the mindfulness aligns with current evidence-based research, and they go through this during the mindfulness session. For me, knowing the 'why' and 'how' makes a huge difference to how I approach things.

This is just my little summary 🙂

BPDSurvivor

@Ma60 @cloudcore @Fluttershy1 

[Arizona]

Hello @pinklollipop15 

My favourite mindfulness teacher is Thich Nhat Hanh. He is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Zen master and founder of the Plum Village monastery in France, which he ran for many years. I have 11 of his books, I have the Plum Village app and I sometimes watch his videos on YouTube. He is a beautiful, gentle man. 

My favourite books of his are "You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment" and "Peace Is Every Step".

[pinklollipop15]

Hi @Arizona yes I have heard of Thich Nhat Nanh I have watched one of his presentations on YouTube and it was enlightening. Thank you for more of his story. I will add those to my long list of books 

[pinklollipop15]

@Fluttershy1 awesome! Music is the best!! I love to paint and draw occasionally (usually sketching with 8B lead pencils or progresso) actually I might finish one tomorrow I forgot I started it hahahaa
Hope you are going well!

[pinklollipop15]

Hi @cloudcore
Sounds great! I do love me some restorative yoga its slow and don't have to tie myself in knots hahaha I use a video on YouTube by a lady called Candace. Its so good!

[pinklollipop15]

Hi @Ma60 lovely to chat with you!
That does sound very calming and good to clear your mind!