{"id":2402,"date":"2015-05-17T18:27:31","date_gmt":"2015-05-17T22:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/?p=2402"},"modified":"2015-05-17T18:27:31","modified_gmt":"2015-05-17T22:27:31","slug":"mindfulness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/2015\/05\/17\/mindfulness\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mindfulness\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I began learning about mindfulness many years ago under incredibly tumultuous circumstances well before it became the catch phrase of the decade.\u00a0 It\u2019s been tossed around by everyone it seems but the people I trust most to toss it around are Louise Hay<\/u><\/a> , Jon Kabat-Zinn<\/u><\/a> and the staff at Green Mountain at Fox Run<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

My definition, the one I\u2019ve been honing for several decades, is \u201cstay in today\u201d.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s pretty broad and I\u2019ve narrowed it down quite a bit myself but in essence if you stay in today so much angst can be alleviated.\u00a0 You know how big a fan I am of angst, distant cousin to drama and worry.<\/p>\n

I started with affirmations and learning the power of the mind body connection.\u00a0 I suffered terribly from anxiety, and hopelessness, and bad luck and on and on.\u00a0 My turning point was a gift from my best friend as I was lamenting the guardian angel energy that kept himself out of trouble she suggested it might not be guardian angel energy it might be my energy…\u00a0\u00a0 What? I had energy?\u00a0 Turns out I have extraordinary energy.<\/p>\n

\"038\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been working diligently on and with mindfulness for the last decade.\u00a0 My health has improved, my life has improved, so many good things come my way that continue to surprise me and I live in gratitude.<\/p>\n

Enter a wonderful weekend in Vermont to validate the things I\u2019m doing right and hand me on a silver platter more ways to improve my life.\u00a0 Ways to banish the cortisol!!!! Evil hormone that it is, maker of belly fat and thief of sleep, can be counteracted with mindfulness. Of course there\u2019s more to it but if you start with mindfulness, if you stay in today, in the moment, and look up from the damn phone..l mean engage with your life, you will be amazed at what happens and what you\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n

\"2015-04-18<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the biggest ah ha\u2019s was mindfulness eating.\u00a0 How the hell does a foodie not live in that space all the time?\u00a0 When I\u2019m eating something fabulous I\u2019m definitely mindful but my problem has always been not being mindful to my hunger cues and getting to the sugar drop stage of no good can come from even opening the refrigerator.\u00a0 I know you\u2019ve seen it, you keep reminding me\u2026<\/p>\n

For the last month I\u2019ve been practicing listening and following the cues and hopefully you can attest that there has been an improvement. \u00a0No bail money has been required, not once. What a relief, to us all.<\/p>\n

\"2015-04-18<\/a><\/p>\n

I began meditating in earnest\u00a0many weeks ago and continued the practice while in Vermont.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of the methods they endorse for most everything.\u00a0 There was a fabulous chair at the end of our hallway that called me each day.\u00a0 Finally I listened and though it was on the way to one of the outside entrances, no one bothered me, it was sunny and warm and light and quiet.\u00a0 If I had my way I would have hauled that chair home with me.\u00a0 Just sayin.<\/p>\n

\"walk<\/a><\/p>\n

Mindfulness walks have always been my thing.\u00a0 I don\u2019t take my phone, I don\u2019t listen to anything but the world around me.\u00a0 I love hearing the birds each morning, I love the sounds and smells coming from open windows and I never want to miss someone calling my name to say hello.\u00a0 The only time I\u2019m not fully engaged is when I have my camera, then I\u2019m focused on the world around me in a different way.\u00a0 Its old school, you have to look through the lens and your vision is narrowed to within the frame.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been known to wander through fairs and markets and gardens and crowds with my camera and I am so grateful for what seems to download.\u00a0 I see things through a completely different filter and it continues to surprise me.<\/p>\n

Rooting yourself to the earth is yet another way to practice mindfulness.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure I have an unfair advantage being a gardener.\u00a0 I love the smell of the earth after the rain, I love the digging, the planting, the weeding, hell I even love hauling the damn boulders out of the back shade garden.\u00a0 I know\u2026<\/p>\n

\"DSC_7141\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Being mindful allows for a\u00a0different perspective, it\u2019s non-judgmental, you can imagine the pain others have that make them act the way they do.\u00a0 It\u00a0 doesn\u2019t condone bad behavior but it creates a better understanding at times.\u00a0 It\u2019s a weight lifted, not everything is yours, you don\u2019t have to attend every argument you\u2019re invited to and you can begin to be kind to yourself.\u00a0 You can learn how fabulous you really are and you can begin to weed out those who don\u2019t believe in you and your new way of thinking.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_5980<\/a><\/p>\n

I believe that mindfulness comes best to those who serve.\u00a0 Themselves first, then serving others brings a continuance of good coming to them that you won\u2019t want to give up.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure the only thing that you\u2019ll be giving up is the cortisol contamination, the excess worry about things that mostly never happen and the abuse you give yourself for what you believe you caused or created when really you simply weren\u2019t paying attention\u2026Now you are and you will begin to see the power that is you.\u00a0 I remain ever grateful for the ability to stay in today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I began learning about mindfulness many years ago under incredibly tumultuous circumstances well before it became the catch phrase of the decade.\u00a0 It\u2019s been tossed around by everyone it seems but the people I trust most to toss it around … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[548,605,607,606],"class_list":["post-2402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-company-of-women-2","category-pause-points","tag-legacyinthemaking","tag-mindfulness","tag-serve","tag-stay-in-today"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p27hQ5-CK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2409,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions\/2409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ordinarylegacy.com\/word\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}