Angie Ward, one of our mindfulness teachers tells us how she is going to put into practice today on National Stress Awareness Day the thoughts and ideas from Rick Hansons practice “Taking In The Good”
Angie told us..”I am going to look around and focus on something I find pleasant today, for me it’s a view whilst I am walking my dog” but for you it could be anything and anywhere.
“I am going to focus on the sounds I hear, the sunlight on the water and the colours” This practice is to make you really savour these pleasant experiences, sense where in the body you are feeling it and notice what is happening to the breath. Take note of your mind when it will surly wander and bring your attention back to the practice.
Mindfulness is all about paying attention to the present moment and “coming of of auto pilot”. Angie has set the intention to experience a mindful walk this morning and here are all the wonderful things she noticed. Take the time to notice the beautiful world around you and share whatever you notice. Positivity is infectious and helps reduce stress.
Angie says she “Noticed the sounds, sounds that she had never heard before or had not tuned into. The number of different bird songs tweeting away to each other. The colours of the autumn leaves and the sound they made crunching under her boots. The change in the weather, a definite chill in the air and her hot breath creating a mist. The noise of her dogs collar jingling away as he ran through the grass. Twigs cracking and breaking and the sounds of dogs barking in the distance.
What surprised her the most was her busy mind whirling away with a million thoughts, creating an anxiety and stress that was battling against her ability to think and enjoy her walk.
But just purposely changing your focus and attention away from your busy mind and altering and chanelling your attention you will stop missing all the lovely things is life that are passing you by because you are not focusing on them.
Angie told us ” I was so surprised how tense I felt at the start of the walk but by changing my attention on purpose and focusing on other things I visibly relaxed, I felt calmer , my hearing seemed to become more acute and I actually took in my surroundings rather than just rush through my walk making movies in my head of all the things that I had to do”
We all need to change our focus on our thoughts. They can be so damaging to us both mentally and physically and have such a negative effect on our lives.
Changing your focus with mindfulness works. Make today the day you start to take back control and learn to live in the moment before that moment is lost and gone forever.