Just Behind the Door

Thanks to those of you who were able to try the Mindfulness exercises and took the time to communicate back to me. Yes! It really does work and you only need a few minutes a day to expand your brain’s capacity to see, hear, and feel more deeply as you calm down your manic brain activity. (If you missed last weeks blog on Mindfulness just go to the archive on my website). I am choosing to elaborate a bit more on the topic of Mindfulness because it is the best thing I have found to accomplish more with less – to help us feel more calm as we go through our hectic days and learn to control our scattered thinking. 
Mindfulness is about tuning into the power of our minds by getting rid of the distractions. It’s rather like a radio station. As you gently turn the control you go from static to perfect reception – and everything comes in loud and clear. Our brains take in so much stimuli simultaneously that often we think, see, respond or understand – but at warp speed.
In conversation we often hear the words and think we have the jest of the point but frequently miss the deeper intent behind the words. Why? It’s quite simple really – most people are so busy thinking about how to respond to what is being said or thinking about how it applies to their own life that they are only partially engaged leaving the speaker to feel less valued or possibly misunderstood. Have you ever talk with someone who made you feel like you were the most important person in the world? I’ll bet they gave you their full attention. Well, that’s exactly what this thing called Mindfulness is all about. It’s about training our brains to be fully in the present – not thinking about the past or the future but being fully engage in what is happening at the moment. 
When you train your brain to focus more deeply on something you often eliminate the need to revisit it. Think about the last time you misplaced something. How long did it take to find it? Wasted time for sure. When you fully focus and take in what you are doing misplaced things are a thing of the past.
In the ’90’s in an effort to accomplish more the process of multi-tasking was introduced. From individuals to boardrooms it was viewed as the thing. But over time it was proven to be ineffective as the thinking process remained at a more scattered and superficial level. Mindfulness is directly opposite to multi-tasking.
If you haven’t tried it yet I promise you that you are in for a surprise. Close your eyes and take 5 or 6 deep breaths and as your mind starts to wander just think about your breath – in and out – over and over. Try this the next time you are getting ready for a meeting or about to engage in a conversation and you will bring more of your self to the situation. Over time you will be surprised when others start to compliment you on your listening and engagement skills.
You can go the the hov.com website and click on Mindfulness to be guided through the practice. You can choose any one of the options from 3 to 30+ minutes plus. Just remember because you are training your brain it is more important to practice it daily (even for 3 minutes) then less often for a longer period. Think about it…even the way we can practice it fits right in with our fast-paced lifestyle!
Give it a go – this one really works!
Have a great few days!