Thoughts on Mindfulness by Mary Beth

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness doesn’t have that much to do with the mind. It really has more to do with the heart.  In most eastern cultures, the word for mind also means heart. Mindfulness has to do with living from the heart.  By mindfully choosing how and where we show up with heart in our lives, we change our brains, the quality of our relationships, and ultimately, the quality of our lives.   It is not a “thing to do”, but it’s a “way to be”.   It is not about making things happen in our lives, or only being happy when things go our way.  It has to do with adopting an equanimity in our lives that allows us to weather the storms of life with grace.

Mindfulness has to do with paying close attention to all the sensations in our bodies.  We are accustomed to paying attention to our thoughts and believing that our thoughts are actually the truth.  How many times have your thoughts actually lied to you? I know my mind lies to me daily.   Our minds lie all the time.  They pick thoughts out of the “thoughtmosphere” and believe that they are the truth.  On the other hand, our bodies do not lie to us.  Listening mindfully to our bodies and our senses will connect us to our higher wisdom.

We mindfully chose who we want to be and how we want to show up in our lives.  When we are mindful, when we are completely present in our bodies, time actually slows down.  On those days that seem to have us scrambling for time, if we simply show up mindfully to the task before us––not thinking about our to do list but instead about what or who is before us now––time seems to expand.  Have you ever noticed when you quit trying to push things to happen, when you surrender, things just seem to flow?  

In my own life I experienced this phenomena late last year when the economy remained sluggish.  I saw the financials dwindling and immediately started doing everything I could to bring in new business. This only increased my stress and it didn’t help Desert Song in the least.  Things were actually just a little worse for the business, but a lot worse for me.  It was only when I surrendered and quit trying so hard that I finally could hear my inner guidance again. In connecting with the universal mind, I started to enjoy quiet time again and soon I was in the flow.  I started getting new contracts and people who hadn’t been in the studio for a while started calling or coming in.   I realized I could connect with universal consciousness and that I didn’t have to work so hard. I just need to stay connected. Seems that when we quit pushing, quit trying to control and just completely show up in the moment …………. connected ……………. magic happens.  - Mary Beth Markus