April/May 2023 Aspire Magazine FULL Issue | Page 54

54 www . AspireMAG . net | April / May 2023

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved when you focus your awareness on the present moment you are in .

Have you ever felt like you had so many things to do that you just don ’ t know where to start ? Are you pulled in so many directions by your career , your family , your to-do list , etc . that you feel like your time doesn ’ t even belong to you anymore ? Have you ever thought … “ When can I catch a break ?” or “ I need a vacation !” Sometimes you may even feel like running away .

The good news is you can take a mini “ vacation ” and feel restored any time you want by learning to control your mind and using a technique called Mindfulness .
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved when you focus your awareness on the present moment you are in . As you focus on the present moment you also acknowledge and accept what you are feeling , your body sensations , thoughts and all that is happening in that moment . Mindfulness can be very therapeutic and can reduce feelings of anxiousness and frustration and takes you out of the past and the future and helps you fully embrace the present moment .
You see , it ’ s not really the tasks we have or the day-to-day grind that is the problem , it ’ s the way we feel about it that is the problem . It ’ s the opinions and emotions we attach to it that causes the unrest , the fatigue , and the heaviness . When you dive deep into how this works you realize that the emotions and opinions and feeling you have come from somewhere in your past wiring or your fear of the future and this is what can cause the sheer overwhelm you are experiencing . If you think about it , even if you are doing a relaxing activity like painting or laying by the pool , if your mind and emotions are in the past or fear of the future , then you will not feel relaxed .
Mindfulness brings you into the present which is the only reality that you have . Mindfulness puts you in touch with what you are really experiencing in the here and now . Often , we are operating on auto pilot and missing out on so many things in life because our minds are out of control . Mindfulness is about experiencing the present and freeing ourselves from the unhelpful ways of thinking and responding that do not fix or solve anything .
Mindfulness is a skill that can be developed to break free of the unhelpful habits that

54 www . AspireMAG . net | April / May 2023