This isn’t the Feature I had planned for this issue. You were going to receive an excerpt of the first chapter (“Mindfulness”) of my new manual for Living the Soul of Recovery.
Then I saw this video. It touched me so much I had to share it. Please watch it (it’s less than two minutes), and then I’ll guide you on a brief Mindfulness exercise.
Before watching, take a few deep breaths, and relax your body and your mind as deeply as you can.
http://www.flickspire.com/m/LifeSecrets/PowerOfWords
An Exercise on Mindfulness:
1. Let yourself acknowledge and experience the emotions and physical feelings that arose while you watched the film. Stay with this experience for a few minutes, being as deeply aware of your feelings as you can, while not thinking about them.
2. Imagine yourself in the role of each person you saw. Take a few minutes with each and let yourself fully feel what it might be like to BE each person, noticing within you how each role feels.
– Be an unaware passerby who hardly notices the man on the step.
– Be a charitable passerby who tosses a few coins in his direction.
– Be the woman in the sunglasses.
– Be the blind man.
3. Now take another deep breath and return your attention to your present surroundings. Scan your body and emotions and notice if you feel any different, and if so, in what ways.
This is being mindful, that is, fully present to the immediate experience of the present moment. In #1, you were practicing mindfulness in your present reality. In #2, you were practicing mindfulness in an imagined reality. In #3, your mindfulness returned to present reality. In a simple way, this is the essence of mindfulness meditation – you are not so much focused on something as you are witnessing and embodying your own experience, without judgment or analysis.
If you wish, it may be useful for you to consider in what ways you may identify with the experience of each person in the video. Or you may want to consider being mindful of the words you use, and the effect they have on others.
The manual chapter on mindfulness will be in the next issue.
I am always touched by this web site…..