Tell me about “Mindfulness”

Tell me about “Mindfulness”

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a meditative practice of trying to bring your conscious awareness to this present moment and all the connectedness of what you notice in this moment. The definition can be made more robust and more significant in many ways, yet the core is about increasing awareness of the current moment and not trying to direct that attention but to observe.

Why mindfulness matters

Being aware of your own self, the experiences you are having and what is going on with your body are helpful ways of reducing some experiences of stress and anxiety. Guilt and Shame live in the past. They accuse you of who you used to be or what you did or didn’t do. Fear, Worry, and Anxiety live in the future obsessing about what isn’t here quite yet. Peace and Contentment live in this moment. While all of those challenging emotions are meaningful and shouldn’t be ignored, we can practice mindfulness to try and give us the space to breathe – for just a bit – without those weighing on us.

Can mindfulness reduce stress?

In short, yes it can. And yet, as with many things it is not quite that simple. A reduction in stress could be said of exercise or bubble baths or a good meal. The ability of any thing to provide a reduction in stress centers around the way in which we use that thing and how we relate to that thing. Take a bubble bath for instance. If you prefer showers and hate baths, and you detest bubbles, then a bubble bath would hardly reduce your stress – it may even increase it. Mindfulness stands apart from other types of stress relieving practices in that it doesn’t attempt so much to cover over or replace the stress with something else the way a good meal can distract and replace feelings. Rather, mindfulness asks us to embrace the very present moment in which we find ourselves. It asks us to notice what I am experiencing and accept that reality. I notice my breathing. I sense the way in which my body is oriented in space. I observe the thoughts I am having without passing judgment on them or dwelling too deeply on them. For a short time, I just am.

How mindfulness empowers us

Mindfulness can work like a superpower in that it has the ability to help us push aside our negative feelings and concerns – even if only for a moment – and give us the focus to attend to life as it is happening. The ability to work on our life in real time is a skill that many do not practice. That old expression, “stop and smell the roses” is a reminder for us to try and slow down a moment and enjoy the things that we can enjoy right now. This isn’t supposed to be some avoidance of the reality of pain that exists in our world – even roses have thorns. It is a call to try and bend our focus to the things that help us and to intentionally mediate on them. Hopefully with practice we can become more skilled at pausing when overwhelmed to bring our attention back to our breathing and then move forward with purpose.



Community Groups

Community groups are where we seek to live out the Gospel in relationship with others within a smaller community context.

If you are interested in joining one of Mosaic’s Community Groups and would like to be contacted by a group leader to learn more, please complete this card.

I prefer to be contact by:

Phone
Email
Text

Area(s) of Town:

Austin Central
Austin North
Austin South
Austin East
Austin West
Cedar Park
Leander
Pflugerville
Round Rock
Mosaic Church

Group(s) of Interest: