Paying Attention on Purpose

FLIRTING WITH THE CONCEPT OF MINDFULNESS

photo credit: Jr Korpa, Unsplash

I’ve flirted with mindfulness most of my adult life. It didn’t flirt back. I’ve tried it on with bits and pieces that I’ve read about. There are shards of mindfulness scattered across our culture with words and concepts we’ve all heard from time to time: “letting go”, “just breathe”, “acceptance”, “non-judgement”, and “beginners mind” to name a few.

My wellness journey, the healing of C-PTSD, has been a winding, meandering path. From the beginning of working with a professional and getting the clinical diagnosis of PTSD in 2021, my therapist would mention mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness. Cultivating mindfulness. She didn’t tell me how to do it, or how to start, where to look, or that I really should do it, but rather she would take every opportunity to gently mention that it was important in the healing of PTSD. At that time, I didn’t have the capacity to rigorously do much of anything except get through the day. A few years later (today), feeling better and decided to do some research on the topic to get a better understanding of exactly how it could help me to continue to feel better. Now I have a better understanding of the benefits of having a Mindfulness Practice and have begun taking a class that offers a certification on the very thing.

And like so many therapeutic modalities and schools of thought on planet Earth, there are also different scholarly opinions on the subject; whether mindfulness is helpful or can hinder the healing of PTSD. For me it’s working. As I’ve read more about it, I can see where it’s also good for humans in general, to become more in tune with each unfolding moment, not living in the past nor fretting about what is in the future (easier said than done). The practice doesn’t cost a lot of money and can be as simple as one wants to make it and can help with anxiety and bring a deeper, richer meaning to life.

Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

I stumbled upon this website and this course is free while doing research. This Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course was created by Dave Potter, a fully certified MBSR instructor, and is based on the program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. It’s not the one I am taking but I plan to visit it after I finish the certification.

Sunlight through window with green tea.

Music: Finding Movement, Musician: Kevin MacLeod

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