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The Road to Wellness
Mindfulness
By Janet Berg
In our daily lives, there are many tasks that we dislike and create resistance to, making them even harder to accomplish or even leaving them undone. Imagine taking the most mundane task you can think of -- perhaps a necessary household chore -- and performing it in a way that creates a highly pleasurable experience. Concentrate on every motion -- how it feels, smells, looks, sounds, etc. As you do this, you find yourself calm, relaxed, smiling. This is called mindfulness.
When we're mindful in our tasks, we're at peace. We can cultivate and experience mindfulness any time we choose. It's a wonderful escape from all of the stress, noise and information overload that we experience daily. By giving our full attention and noticing what we never took the time to notice before, we see the world with new awareness, perhaps with the "eyes of a child."
Mindfulness of breathing is the basis of meditation. It slows down the chatter of the mind, relaxes the body and creates a sense of awareness of the body and the emotions.
You can practice mindfulness whenever you eat. Engage all of your senses: How does the food look, smell, taste, feel in your mouth? Pay attention to the activity of chewing, swallowing, etc. What about the feel of the fork in your hand, the temperature of the food? When you're totally aware of all of these things, eating becomes truly satisfying. You end up eating less and enjoying it more.
Just for today, try being mindful in at least one task. You might find that it becomes a positive habit that's hard to break. ©
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Previously in The Road to Wellness
Eating to Live or Living to Eat?
By Kimberly R. Blanton and Shelli E. Jones
(February 19, 2003)
How Do You Measure Up?
By Kimberly R. Blanton and Shelli E. Jones
(February 5, 2003)
Herbalife
(January 29, 2003)
more...
Other articles by Janet Berg
The Road to Wellness (January 15, 2003)
The Road to Wellness (January 1, 2003)
The Road to Wellness (December 19, 2002)
more...
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