Cultivating Mindfulness

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Most of us are aware of the benefits of present moment awareness or mindfulness if you like.

But how do you cultivate it?

In this post we'll take a look at my personal approach to cultivating mindfulness.

Please note that there are many ways to practice mindfulness, however, in this article I'll only share my personal experiences and strategies.

Mindful Living

The goal with my practice is to be mindful throughout the day, from the morning when I awake until I fall asleep at night. In my experience, mindful living calls forth a beautiful mental state that makes for happiness and inner-peace.

Let's take a close look at my personal approach:

I practice mindfulness by giving relaxed attention to the sensations in my abdomen. You can call this the meditation object. The sensations include heat, cold, tingling, mental energy and a sense of movement etc.

So, throughout the day I give relaxed attention to my meditation object. There's no need for intense concentration, which would only be tiring.

Mindfulness Practice

While eating for example, I give most of my attention to eating while some to the sensations in the abdomen.

So, regardless of what I do, I opt to keep in touch with my meditation object.

Being mindful while eating doesn't result in a deep state of meditation. The point of being mindful is not about dwelling in deep states, but about living mindfully – to be aware of the present moment and not to be lost in endless thinking.

Here's another example. While writing this I give relaxed attention to the sensations in the abdomen and as a result I'm aware of soothing energy flowing from my meditation object.

Formal Meditation

A few times per day, I put everything aside and meditate for 30-60 minutes. This can be referred to as formal meditation. I use the same meditation object but now I can easily enter a deeper and more relaxed state of mind.

That's one of the benefits of mindful living, namely that whenever you'd like to enter a deeper mental state you can easily do so, since your mind is already dwelling in inner-peace.

Mindful Activities

I also read mindfully. I prefer spiritual books and give gentle attention to my meditation object while reading.

Again, while doing this, part of my attention goes to reading and reflecting while some attention goes to the meditation object.

Other activities I really enjoy is to be mindful while listening to meditation talks. This is a great source of inspiration!

As you can see, you don't have to set aside a lot of time for meditation if you live mindfully.

Intensive Meditation Practice

Sometimes, I spend a few days meditating at home. I call it a self-retreat. One of the benefits of intensive meditation practice is that you naturally make progress when meditating a lot, which in turn makes it easier to live mindfully.

I also find that insights come more frequently whenever I generate plenty of mental energy. That's one of the reasons why I combine sitting and walking meditation, since walking meditation boosts mental energy.

Meditation retreats are great forms of meditation practice. With many meditators in one place, there's a build up of mental energy which makes it easier to mediate.

Best of luck with your mindfulness practice!

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