The power of Mindfulness

This morning I was given an unexpected lesson in mindfulness. Exactly what I have been asking for but did not know how to go about it. Lately with my children’s schedules and my husband’s schedule overlapping mine, my brain has been helter skelter. Here and there trying to do everything. Solve everything. Be everywhere but in the present moment.

So my meditation this morning led by Deepak Chopra was all about mindfulness. A gift from the Universe just for me.  I was so grateful for the meditation when I read what it was that I settled down in my seat full of anticipation about where this meditation was going to lead me. So excited about what was to come from my meditation.

But I missed the beginning of the meditation because I did not have my earphones in properly  and did not realise it until the introductory speaker she was nearly half way through her introduction because I was so busy trying to be present that I forgot to be present. So I was flustered right from the beginning causing me to miss what was happening.

I just could not be present enough to even be able to visualise anything in the meditation when Chopra was leading us through a visual of nature.  While he was asking me to see and feel myself in various places in nature, all I could think about was where my children, husband and I had to be and how we would be able to be in all those different places at once. I was thinking about everything else but listening to the guided mediation so I did not achieve my state of mindfulness. And then as if the Universe was letting me know I had lost the plot, I accidentally touched the screen in the wrong place taking me completely out of the meditation. Losing the last bit of it shocking my system out of its semi state of relaxation back to reality.

With hands shaking and mind in panic mode, I was able to retrieve the meditation again and this time, I stopped and brought myself back into the present moment. And when I did, I discovered I had jumped so far ahead in the mediation that I had not even see the introductory page for the meditation. This time I brought myself fully focussed into the present allowing me to be able to get everything the meditation had to offer from the beginning. And boy had I missed a lot by not being present.

Beginning with the following powerful message I had not even heard the first time, “Too often  we let the memories of past events or the anticipation of future events cause us to ignore the present, We lose the simple joy of experiencing things around us as we worry about where we have been or where we are going.” She asked us to focus on the simple beauty of nature to help us to become present.

Chopra then came on and said, “When we focus on the future or the past, we miss the things that are happening around us in the present. Without this awareness of the present, life becomes more harried, hectic and devoid of meaning.”

The Universe was definitely speaking to me this morning. Asking me to slow down. To be present. To stop being over there and worrying about what happened back there but to be mindful of where I am at the present moment so I don’t miss what is happening right in front of me. The simple joy of experiencing rather than focussing on what I have no control over.

When I lost the meditation the first time was a gift from the Universe to bring me back to the present moment. To jolt me back to where I was meant to be. Here. Right now in this present moment where worry and anticipation have no place. Where mindfulness is what I need to be present. I get it Universe and thank you for the well learnt lesson this morning - to take a breather and gently but firmly bring myself back to the present. Becoming aware of the environment around me. The sights, the sounds, the feelings. And as I become immersed in the present, time slows and my experiences become more fulfilling.  Aaah, yes. Right here. Right now. Mindfulness. Namaste. I’m listening.