Mindfulness: The first step transforming your life
HOW THE MINDFULNESS TRANSFORMED MY LIFE
If you follow this blog regularly you will know that not long ago only lived to work.
My life was submerged in a deep dissatisfaction and the only thing that consoled me was to think about the future, which without a doubt would be much better.
My real motivation was to see myself in a relaxed future, working on things that I like and dreamed of setting up the “Alvaro’s house”, which was nothing more than a business based on all my skills and hobbies (this is true and if not ask my colleague Javi).
The fact is that this period lasted too long: the present worsened, grey hairs appeared and my health diminished.
I had a very severe state of stress, so much so that I had gone from the psychological to the physiological.
As I was quite reluctant to use pills, I started looking for a formula that would allow me to solve my problem without having to take medication, and that’s how I discovered Mindfulness and began to introduce myself into this meditative practice.
In a short time I noticed the benefits: not only my stress level was reduced, but it also allowed me to recognize my emotions and manage them in my personal relationships.
This is why I instituted it in my life as one of the most important sources for my personal balance.
THE POWER OF NOW
This, which Ekchart Tolle repeats to the point of satiety in the book that introduced you to the beginning, is nothing new; Buddhist traditions already speak of enlightenment through meditative practices of mindfulness.
This type of meditation is what is known today as Mindfulness, which translated into Spanish would become something like “full consciousness”.
You have probably heard about this Mindfulness before, and it is not in vain that it is fashionable. The reason is that several studies prove the extraordinary benefits of the continued practice of meditation.
One of these studies was conducted with Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk long experienced in meditation practice.
The study consisted of the monk having to remain meditating inside a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance equipment that allows to see live the brain activity.
The results revealed that activity was associated with well-being and positive emotions, which led him to be called “the happiest man in the world”.
WHERE’S THE SECRET?
At this point I suppose you no longer have any doubt how beneficial Mindfulness can be for your life, but you may wonder what the secret is?
I will try to explain it to you in a very brief way.
Our brain has become a reactive instrument, so much so that it is no joke to say that your brain thinks for you.
The problem is that, although you are perfectly aware of this, you don’t have enough capacity to control it.
The brain is designed to optimize resources so that when you learn something happens to your unconscious and that way you can use it without having to think every time you want to do something.
But that optimizing capacity that your brain has, has a major disadvantage: what you learn and that is not useful or beneficial to your life, in one way or
The haste of our society makes us live so quickly that we rarely stop to reflect on what we are doing and why we are doing it: we live unconsciously.
And that’s where meditation comes in.
Under the name of Mindfulness you will find various meditative practices whose foundation is mindfulness; that is, to remain conscious in the present moment.
HOW LIVING WITH MINDFULNESS HELPS YOU
When you perform this type of meditation you are focusing your attention on something that is happening at that precise moment, such as sounds or breathing.
Mindfulness should be understood as training.
Just as you go to the gym to exercise your body, or perform mental calculus exercises to exercise your mind, Mindfulness helps you exercise consciousness. And this is truly powerful in your personal transformation.
If you are unaware of how you behave, what you think or even what you believe, it is difficult for you to make a change.
By meditating you are lowering the reactivity of your brain, so that little by little you are waking up to that level of consciousness that attains fullness is associated with what is called enlightenment.
