Cultivating Mindfulness--A variety of practices to explore.

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Jen Agnitti, One of Thousands of Spirituality Coaches on Noomii.

Mindfulness involves cultivating a present-minded awareness of what is happening in the here-and now. While there is no universal definition of “mindfulness,” Thich Nhat Hanh often describes it, (according to Thich Nhat Hahn Foundation), as “Being aware of what is happening inside and around you in the present moment.”

Benefits of Mindfulness Practice:

1) Use of mindfulness has been demonstrated to reduce stress, fatigue, burn out and energy drain.
2) Using mindfulness can lead to greater self-efficacy by assisting individuals in grounding into the present moment, the “here and now” of lived experience.
3) Mindfulness has been demonstrated to enhance creativity, responsiveness, connection to self and inner guidance/intuitive voice, as well as clarity and decision-making abilities.
4) Lastly, mindfulness promotes self-awareness and self-actualization and assists us in showing up authentically in our relationships with others.

Mindful Eating Practice: Be, Breathe and Break!
An excerpt from The Inside Tract: Your Good Gut Guide to Great Digestive by Gerald E. Mullen, M.D.

1) Be. Just be. Before you eat, enjoy a meditative moment. Look at your food and smell your food. You may also want to whisper a quiet grace to thank the food.
2) Breathe. Take three relaxing, slow breaths before you start eating. To breathe means to inspire, and by breathing in this manner, you are setting the stage for a leisurely digestive tempo.
3) Break. Once you ingest your food, focus on the tastes, textures, and “mouthfeel” of your food. Allow it to become more liquid before you swallow. After your first few bites, take a break, rest your hands in your lap and repeat Steps 1 and 2: Be and breathe again. Savor the pause at your plate. Like yoga, this practice requires discipline and training, but it will be well worth the effort as your digestive health improves.

Moving Meditation—Two Types:

One involves lifting, moving, placing … where the individual focuses on being mindful of each aspect of the movement as they perform it slowly.
The other type involves counting while walking at a comfortable pace, so it can happen as part of daily activity rather than as an isolated formal practice.
It involves a sequence such as 1, 1-2, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, and goes up to 10.
The counting serves as a placeholder for the present moment — just as the breath does in sitting meditation — so that as one’s mind wanders, the counting allows the person to come back to the present moment.
Feel free to allow moving meditation to evolve into sensory awareness exploration—for instance, focusing on all or just one of your senses. Sound can be particularly interesting as you begin to filter out sounds that are near, far, above, below, to each direction, the sounds that are internal versus sounds that are external. There is a lot to discover!
Mindful hand exercise: Hold your hands together tightly for 10 seconds and release. Pay attention to the sensations of tension and release
This can be particularly helpful when incorporated into yoga asana (poses) such as tadasana (standing, or “Mountain”) pose, malasana (“squat”) pose, and vrksasana (“tree”) pose.

Stretching Heart Opener: Open like a flower to the sun!

Stand and open your arms wide out, pressing your breastbone forward at the chest, and open like a flower to the sun; next, hug your arms into the center, curving your upper or cervical spine, like you are hugging a giant beachball. Repeat 2-3 times, each time opening like a flower to the sun, then closing in like you are hugging a giant beachball. Best done outside.

Grounding Practice:

Whenever you have the opportunity, step outdoors and allow yourself to take a moment to look up at the sky, day or night to experience the vast expansiveness that exists outside of yourself. Feel the air on your skin, sense the temperature, the texture of the air. If comfort allows, put your bare feet into the earth—any surface will do: grass, dirt, mud, pine needles, a stream bed. You will be connected to the Earth’s stabilizing, nurturing energy, and also receive benefit from the electromagnetic frequency of the earth. It is always possible to engage a reciprocal energy exchange with the earth—one of the Earth Mother’s Divine Feminine gifts is transmutation and alchemiztion—we can give our dense, heavy energies and emotions to the earth and ask that she accept them and transmute them, and allow ourselves to simultaneously receive the earth’s nurturing and supportive earth mother energy thereby engaging the Infinite Flow of Giving and Receiving. This is a wonderful process for clearing of all kinds, yet particularly useful in many cases for processing and release of grief and sorrow.

Grounding Through the Senses (ideally practiced outdoors):

One by one, focus on each sense:
Notice what you see, with all the rich dimension and color and texture and shape you can hone in on, as well as light and shadow.
Notice what you hear—near and far, above and below, to each direction, internal and external
Notice what you feel—sensations at points of contact your body is making with various surfaces or your clothing or hair, the way the air feels on your skin, the various textures of objects and clothing.
If possible, notice what you taste—this could even be stimulated by your sense of smell as you connect deeper into this experience. It could be an actual taste of gum, candy or a beverage, or you may not experience a discernible taste, in which case you can focus on playing with your remaining senses.

Sensing Space:

Close your eyes, and sense into the space around or in front of, above or behind you.
Notice the space above your head, and without looking up, really sense, feel and tune into this space above you.
Notice the space above your shoulders, with your eyes still closed, see if you can feel how far or high that space extends up above your shoulders.
Notice the space in front of your forehead. Feel and sense into this space above your forehead.
Feel the support of your sitting bones or feet beneath you. Notice that support.
Sense into the space in front of your chest and heart center, notice that space.
Sense into the space above your head, above your shoulders, in front of your forehead, and in front of your heartspace.
Take two to three deep breaths, and begin making small, subtle movements, perhaps of the fingers, toes, to bring your awareness back to your body.

Enjoy these practices, and create your own! Leave a comment to share what resonates and what you find most helpful in your own experience.