The Art of Mindfulness

“Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present and at one with those around you and with what you are doing.”

http://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/ 

In other words, mindfulness is the ability to focus. With all of today’s technology, our ability to focus has been quickly diminishing. Instead of looking people in the eye and giving them our full attention, we are on our cellphones or on our tablets. Instead of paying attention in class or at work, our minds are often elsewhere. We are missing out on the simple beauty of human connection. How does this affect our lives and our state of being?

Well, research has found that the ability to focus also dictates our ability to control our emotional state. It has been found that people who have a greater ability to focus, and those who consciously focus are actually happier. This is because through focusing, these people are able to block out emotional turbulence for the time being, which means they have more control over their emotions. They are also less likely to become depressed. On the other hand, people who day dream often and have trouble focusing are typically unhappy; they are often thinking of their feelings, past incidences, or even the future. Not being present in the moment causes people to be dissatisfied with their work, with their lives and with themselves. This is because people who lack the control to focus have trouble dealing with their emotions and lack the ability to fully control them.

Building up the ability to focus is like building your brain muscles. It takes a little bit of work. Now, I am not saying that focusing means not wandering off with our thought and feelings, because this is inevitable. But really strengthening this ability means being able to bring yourself back; bring your attention back from your day dream, bring your attention back from what happened last night, bring your attention back from how you are feeling. Bring your attention back to the present moment. This is building your ability to focus.  

I believe that really focusing and being mindful of the present moment can lead to a happier and more fulfilled life. One of the easiest and greatest gifts we can give our loved ones is our attention, and attention is also one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. We all seek attention, so it is also up to us to give it. Not only this, but us giving our full attention to even the little things uplifts our state of being; we become more grateful and appreciative of the people in our lives and of the life around us, and we are more attentive to our work and thus achieve more. So many people in this world just want to be fulfilled and happy… Practicing the art of mindfulness is definitely an important step in this journey!!