Mindful Earthkeeper

We are in that time of year when our resolve to stay mindful, can fall off, and sometimes disappear. This is a good to remind ourselves, why we have chosen practices that allow us to keep our focus centered on what matters most.

Your reasons to follow any type of mindfulness practice may vary.

Maybe you want to improve or maintain your health, or you have a spiritual calling to expand your consciousness. You might have “fallen into” mindfulness practices because some of your friends practice them. Or maybe you like the way mindfulness practices make you feel, and how they help you to think more clearly and make better decisions.

Mindful living means that you pay attention to your life as it is happening, and avoid spending too much of your mental and emotional energy in the past or future.

It’s natural to be pulled into nostalgia during busy times, so let’s consider the benefits of staying mindful when the desire to forget about every mindfulness practice happens.

1. Mindfulness helps us to appreciate the good in life and better endure the more difficult times. Whatever mindfulness practice you have whether it’s a form of meditation, prayer, movement, art or something else that increases your focus on one activity, you develop resilience and focus.
2. When we are mindful, especially when we slow down our heartbeat and clear our minds, we help to rejuvenate the cells in our body. We increase our ability to stay vital as we age.
3. Mindful living helps us to slow down to better connect with the people that we love. It’s easy to forget that life isn’t a competition to achieve some goal or another. Human life is a gift and an experience that is blessed, and when we’re mindful we can see the blessing in all the life around us.
4. If we want to create something that is restorative in any way, we need to be mindful. So much of the destruction in the world comes from a lack of awareness and mindfulness.

These benefits of mindfulness may not be the ones you care about.

Take some time this week to understand what benefits mindfulness practices offer you, and lean into your reasons as we approach the holiday season and the end of this year.