Mindfulness - what it is, how to develop it, books and trainings

Spiritual growth

If you have a clear feeling that your life is disharmonious, then the first thing you need to start with is to awaken your awareness. All the great teachers of the past and present, such as Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Dalai Lama, Ethart Tolle and Osho, taught only one thing - mindfulness. Everyone called it differently. Jesus, for example, called this revival. Ethart Tolle - the presence or power of the moment “here and now.” Osho called mindfulness witnessing. But no matter what you call it, the essence does not change!

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the process of awakening consciousness, which consists of constant attention. When during any actions there is no wandering in thoughts at all, and all attention is directed to what is happening specifically at this moment in life.

The main goal of mindfulness practice is to take your attention away from thoughts about what is happening and transfer it to what is happening in the moment “here and now.” I like the words of one Zen master about the practice of mindfulness: “When I eat, I eat; when I carry water, I carry water.” This, one might say, is an extremely important and key point in practice, which allows us to awaken our consciousness.

Awareness is a spotlight of our attention, directed inward or outward, which helps highlight a problem or some process, making it more visible, clear and understandable.

The perception of an ordinary person is similar to a half-asleep state, in which an unconscious “frame-by-frame” scanning of what is happening at the current moment in time occurs. Then the information received in the form of images proceeds to more detailed processing with the help of the mind. It turns out that a person loses contact with pure reality, which is replaced by his (karmic) conditioned thoughts. And in order to get out of this “dormant” state, you need to start practicing and move towards a conscious life.

Conscious life is life outside of any conventions imposed by life values , various desires and patterns of behavior.

Only a developed person has a request for a conscious life. He begins to pay attention to his inner world (his desires, emotions and thoughts). Begins to see the exact relationship between your results in the external world and your internal state. Such people not only want to satisfy their basic needs, but also want to develop as individuals, get more joy and pleasure from life, from interacting with other people, from their full self-realization .

To be conscious means to be responsible for your life.

An unconscious person in most cases only reacts. The conscious one acts more. Awareness allows you to notice problems at the stage of their occurrence and solve them effectively. And you can only manage what you understand. Therefore, awareness is the key to managing your life!

You are alive only in proportion to how aware you are. Mindfulness is the difference between life and death. You are not alive just because you breathe, you are not alive just because your heart beats... Become more awake and you will become more alive...
— Osho

Benefits of Mindfulness

Mindfulness reduces anxiety, irritability and vulnerability to stress.
It is an effective remedy in the fight against depression.
Fills you with mental and physical energy, helps get rid of insomnia.
It is highly effective in managing chronic pain.
Improves memory and concentration.
Allows you to manage useless thoughts.
Develops your intelligence, empathy and compassion, including towards yourself, and also improves your interpersonal skills.
Improves your health (especially has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system) and improves immunity.
Develops clearer, goal-oriented thinking, increasing your effectiveness in professional and home affairs.
Helps increase creativity and performance.
Increases confidence and improves flexibility in your behavior.
Helps you get rid of bad habits and even lose excess weight.
Increases levels of happiness, well-being and optimism.

Mindfulness can literally transform you from the inside out.

As you develop awareness, you will discover the most amazing and incredible surprise: what you have always been looking for somewhere “out there” - a feeling of harmony, contentment and integrity, was all the time within yourself.

In other words, the more mindful you are, the happier and fuller you can live.

What will the development of awareness bring?

So, I made it clear to you that mindfulness in general can change your life for the better, but let's see how specifically it will affect your development in all 7 areas .

The level of spirituality will increase. A person who has made mindfulness a part of his daily activities undergoes a rethinking of his entire life. There is a clear understanding of why certain events happen, certain people meet, and what leads to success or failure. It will make you more grateful and more loving. You will begin to feel and believe in the presence of some invisible Force that guides you along the path of your true destiny .

Personal growth will accelerate. An unconscious person moves through life without goals, so he is very easily controlled. The lack of desires, goals and direction makes him unhappy. Awareness allows a person to take responsibility for his life and decide for himself where and how to move. Such people have clearly formulated life goals . You realize what is most important to you, getting rid of everything unnecessary. Thus, awareness allows you to be more effective in everything.

The energy potential will increase . In pursuit of a successful life, an unconscious person forgets about his health, which eventually leads to exhaustion or serious illnesses. By becoming more aware, you will learn to hear and understand your body, find the true causes of ailments and eliminate them. A conscious approach to sleep, healthy eating and exercise will allow you to maintain a high level of energy, which is the foundation for faster personal development.

Relationships with others will improve . Many people fill their relationships with loved ones with various quarrels and resentments due to low awareness. Some are accustomed to building “castles in the air” on stereotypes of “how it should be.” Others plunge headlong into conflict situations and react to “irritants” with quarrels and shouting. Awareness allows you to look at any situation from the outside, draw the right conclusions, analyze your behavior patterns and replace them with more effective ones.

How and in what ways is awareness manifested?

Professional activity. Consciously approach the question of your future or current profession: what would you really like to do, what would you like to achieve, how to achieve it and what needs to be done for this.
Personal growth. With the advent of awareness in your life, you begin to grow as a person. New skills, abilities and qualities are developed.
Physical health. You will begin to take care of your health and body. Exercising and sports, going to the doctor, eating right - all this will help prevent illness and improve your health.
Attentiveness. The higher your awareness, the more attentive you are, the more details you notice in yourself, in people and in the surrounding reality.
Understanding yourself . You will begin to easily notice what is happening in your body, emotions, mind and soul. You understand the reasons for the appearance of certain desires, needs and conditions.
Intelligence . The more developed the quality of awareness, the fewer stupid and ineffective actions you commit. It is easy for you to give up smoking, alcohol and everything harmful because you clearly understand the negative impact on your body and mind. It's easy for you to go for a run or do something useful.
Self-discipline . You do work and other necessary activities despite lack of desire. At the same time, you are conscious of your physical resources and energy.

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Your career or business will develop. Only a conscious person can become successful in his career and business. An unconscious person is only capable of carrying out a clear and familiar algorithm of actions day after day, constantly remaining in the comfort zone and not realizing his creative potential . Such people never experience the drive that drives forward successful specialists, various creative individuals, managers and entrepreneurs.

Cash flow will increase. A conscious attitude towards money allows you to solve all your financial problems and increase your level of well-being. The path to financial independence and freedom begins with thinking and inner state. Lack of awareness leads to the fact that people do not track their negative attitudes and mental anchors, which simply block the flow of monetary energy. Only by being conscious can you manage your financial flow so that it only increases over time.

Brightness will appear in life . Mindfulness makes life more vibrant and interesting, rather than gray, boring and ordinary. Being in the moment here and now as an observer makes each moment unique and beautiful in its own way. But since most people are “asleep”, they do not notice all this beauty around them, but simply plunge into a series of endlessly stretching gray everyday life with dreams of doing their favorite thing, interesting leisure time and memorable travels.

What conclusion follows from the above?! If you constantly improve in the practice of mindfulness, you will develop more effectively in all areas of your life . Awareness is a very important vector of personal development, which needs to be worked on first. Without it, you are unlikely to be able to create a harmonious life! Let me remind you once again that only a conscious person can manage his life! Otherwise, someone else will control your life! Do you want this? I think no!

How to develop awareness?

Below I will give examples of those practices for developing awareness that I myself use.

Conscious eating. I recommend starting with this practice, because we all eat several times a day. And any meal can become not only a way to replenish energy resources, but also an opportunity to develop awareness. Instead of watching TV or going through your phone while eating, sit quietly and focus on the taste of your food while eating.

Personally, I like to eat 2 oranges in the morning. A great boost of energy and they are better suited for practice because the taste is very bright. You can focus your attention on it well. The stronger your attention, the deeper the taste will be. By experimenting with different foods, you will realize how many flavors you have not noticed before.

Conscious breathing . This is one of the most common practices for developing mindfulness. It can be found in different countries of the world, in completely different traditions. Breathing is not only a vital process, but also a great way to increase your attention and observation. You can practice in any position: lying on a bed or floor, sitting on a chair or also on the floor.

The best pose for breathing practices is the “Turkish pose” or Sukhasana with crossed legs and a straight spine extended upward. During practice, you need to close your eyes and focus on inhalation and exhalation, without interfering with the process itself, but simply observing. This practice is great for calming your mind, relaxing your body, and bringing you into the present moment.

Body awareness. Having learned to work with breathing, you can try to direct attention to your body. But it constantly signals us about some kind of energy disturbance through pain, but we are so absorbed in our thoughts during the day that we do not notice bodily pressures. And they are formed as a result of compression of the body, which most often occurs during times of severe stress.

Personally, I like to do a mindfulness practice with my body before bed. You dim the lights in the room, do a little breathing technique, and then start doing yoga asanas or other muscle stretching exercises. It is necessary to find areas of tension and consciously relax them using the same breathing. If the tension is very strong, then you need to “breathe” through it, imagining how, with a sigh, the area of tension is filled with light of a golden hue, and with an exhalation, the tension is cleared and the muscles relax. The big advantage of this practice is that we train not only mindfulness, but also contribute to the healing of the entire body and prepare it for good, sound sleep.

Awareness of feelings. You can further expand your mindfulness practice by focusing on your feelings. This is a more difficult option, but becoming more observant is simply necessary. As you begin to explore your feelings and emotions, you will begin to get to know yourself truly deeply. The most important thing is to be aware of exactly what I am feeling at the moment. Observing emotions is much more difficult, since they are quite confusing. We have a very wide range of emotions - from the most positive to the damn negative.

I would recommend learning to be aware of your emotions from unwanted emotions, since they are more, so to speak, difficult, and more understandable. The main emotions are fear, anger and resentment. When will such emotions arise again? Close your eyes and direct your attention to the heart area. Observe these emotions, as well as the reactions that caused them. Over time, this will make it possible to control negative emotions and fill yourself with more positive ones.

Awareness of your thoughts. For a spiritual person, clarity of thought is very important. If you start observing your thoughts, you will find that most of them are not yours, they are simply borrowed from other people: parents, friends, husband, wife, colleagues. And to become aware of these “other people’s” thoughts and judgments is your main task in the practice of mindfulness in this case. Paying attention to your stream of thoughts, which is simply endless, and stopping the most negative ones can greatly change your life. After all, what we think about is what we see in our reality!

Try all the practices first in the order in which I wrote them. You don’t need to start immediately being attentive to your thoughts, as this is very difficult. Start with taste and breath. And then redirect it to the body, emotions at the conclusion of the thought. This way you will cleanse your 3 main bodies: physical, emotional and mental.

And if you are new to developing mindfulness, then it is better to practice in the morning, when your mind is calm and not crammed with all sorts of events of the past day. Over time, you can start practicing in the evening, and then at any time of the day, anywhere.

We must not forget that the practice of mindfulness, like any other practice in life, should be done every day! Only then will you be able to see quick and visible changes in your life!

Practice developing individual aspects of mindfulness

Values Awareness – Be clear about your ideals, values and beliefs. And in your everyday life, be guided only by them.
Awareness of reality - always and everywhere strive for a full perception and understanding of what is happening around and inside you.
Awareness of speech - carefully monitor everything that others say and what you say yourself, think about your words and be an attentive listener.
Awareness of movements - try to feel any of your movements, watch the sensations in your body, do not rush into actions. If you are used to doing something quickly or mechanically, do the opposite - slowly and being aware of any muscle contraction.
Awareness of actions - before committing any action, consider its result from different points of view and positions of perception, take into account not only your desires and needs, but also those around you.
Awareness of activity - strive for flawless execution of everything you undertake. Do even the smallest things at the highest level. Complex actions are broken down into several components.
Awareness of life - at the beginning of each day, think through its plan, during the process - check with it, keep your personal time under control, beware of people and unnecessary things that take up this time. At the end of each day, analyze it and draw appropriate conclusions.

And the last thing I want to say is that this is an effective way to develop awareness, which, in principle, includes everything that we said above. This method is constant self-monitoring . Your main task is to track yourself, all your stereotypes, habits, reactions, emotions, thoughts, feelings, desires, actions, speech and everything that is directly related to you. Develop and train your inner observer. If you forget, remember, create “triggers” for yourself to remember your practice (an unusual object in your pocket, a cross on your hand, a sticker on the monitor, etc.). Don’t let yourself “fall asleep”, wake up from your waking sleep in all possible ways and you will not notice how your life will change, and you yourself will be able to say with complete confidence: “Yes, I live my life for real and I am always here and now.” .

We wish you success on your path to a conscious life!

We also recommend reading:

Storytelling
Eight Strategies to Improve Self-Regulation
Mindfulness
Journal of Professional Development
Mindfulness Exercises
Mindfulness: Five Practices
Mindfulness and its benefits
The benefits of keeping a diary
Qualities more important than IQ
How effective is meditation: an alternative view
10 signs of an unconscious life

Key words:1Psychoregulation

Books about mindfulness that I recommend reading

Osho “Mindfulness. The keys to life are balance."

My favorite book on the topic of mindfulness! I recommend reading it first! This book is a collection of conversations with Osho, in which he talks about how to live more focused, attentive and meditative, with care and love, as well as full awareness of what is happening in life. According to Osho, mindfulness is the key to finding our own direction and remaining balanced and free in every aspect of our lives.”

Osho “Mindfulness today. How to make meditation a part of your daily life."

From this book you will learn why it is so important for modern people to learn to be conscious and how to do this in such a fast-paced world. And Osho suggests the best way out is to turn any of your actions into meditation. Osho says that you need to stop thinking and switch to sensations. Then awareness will come by itself. The great value of this book for me personally was that it contains five techniques that Osho himself used to develop his awareness.

Denny Penmann, Mark Williams “Mindfulness. How to find harmony in our crazy world."

This book is about mindfulness meditation, based on a therapy that works, created by the authors and their colleagues at the University of Oxford. This technique was even recommended by the British Ministry of Health. If you devote 10-20 minutes a day to mindful meditation, you will learn to stop thoughts so that you can calm down and focus on what is really important in your life.

Andy Puddicombe Meditation and Mindfulness.

A huge plus of this book is that it was written by a certified clinical meditation specialist and former Buddhist monk. Andy Puddicombe, while still a student, went to study the topic of meditation around the world, returning to Web Britain in 2004 and founded the meditation company Headspace. According to Andy Puddicombe's system, meditation is, first of all, a tool for improving the quality of life! And you will learn about this by reading this wonderful book!

Rohan Ganatilake “How to turn on mindfulness.” Techniques of effective practices and meditations in the modern world.”

The author of the book is an expert in various programs and applications that are devoted to the topic of mindfulness and meditation techniques. Rohan Ganatilake proves in his book that a happy and peaceful life can be achieved without any renunciation. In this book you will find various ideas, principles and techniques that will help you develop self-control and sensitivity, no matter where you are or what you are doing. The book contains more than 60 practical exercises that will help you turn on mobile awareness right here and now.

Michael Chalkalson “Live consciously. Work productively"

This book will help you develop awareness and presence in the present moment. By learning to manage your focus, you will be able to correctly prioritize in life and stop worrying about all sorts of nonsense. You will finally take control of your life and make it more fulfilling! And the 8-week course, which is outlined in this book, will help you with this!

Wax Ruby “Be yourself. A Guide to Mindfulness for Those on the Brink.”

A very wise, witty and understandable book about how we can learn to notice our thoughts and feelings in order to live every minute. In it you will find a six-week course on developing mindfulness, as well as various tips on how to be more in the present moment.

How to achieve a state of mindfulness

Now that you understand that waking dreams are bad, let’s move on to the next steps and answer the questions:

How to stop living on autopilot and wake up?
How to become aware and be in this state always, and not from time to time?

For answers, let's turn again to Osho and his life advice.

Step #1. Watch your body

Osho recommends starting your journey into awareness by paying attention to your body, as this is the easiest thing to do.

The first step in mindfulness is to become very aware of your body. Little by little one becomes alert in every gesture, in every movement. As you become more aware, a miracle begins to happen: many things that you did before simply disappear.

Step #2. Track your thoughts

After you learn to control your body and monitor its reactions, move on to your thoughts.

Then begin to be aware of thoughts - the same must be done with thoughts. They are thinner than the body and, of course, much more dangerous. And when you become aware of thoughts, you will be surprised by what is happening inside you. If you write down everything that happens in you at any moment, you will be in for a great surprise.

When you learn to be in a state of mindfulness, your body and your thoughts will be balanced. The endless internal dialogue will stop.

Step #3. Learn to be aware of your feelings, emotions, moods

This is the most difficult, but extremely important step.

Once you become aware of all these three layers, they combine into one phenomenon. And when these three layers become one, begin to act in complete harmony, vibrate together, you can feel the music of all three: they become an orchestra - and then the fourth thing happens.

What is this “fourth”? What does Osho mean? This is complete awareness.

It is she who allows us to awaken from sleep.

And only in such awakening does a person learn what bliss is. Bliss is the goal, awareness is the path to it.

Of course, at the initial stage it will be difficult for you to control your actions, thoughts, emotions and feelings. It will seem to you that it is impossible to do this, and simply observing yourself is not enough to achieve awareness, because the usual internal dialogue will always be noisy in the background.

What to do in this case?

Osho offers several additional steps that will allow you to achieve awareness through special states.

So, if it is still difficult for you to enter awareness through controlling your thoughts and observations, take the following steps, which will greatly simplify and speed up your awakening.

Step #4. Live in joy

The simplest and shortest path to awareness is through a state of joy. It is much easier to be aware of yourself precisely in moments of happiness and inspiration, sincerely enjoying positive emotions.

If first you can be aware of your joyful moments, then depression, depression will not come. The door to the state of awareness is in the state of ecstasy. Therefore this is the easiest way.

How to put this into practice? it happens? In moments of happiness, try to stop the internal dialogue. Concentrate on pleasant sensations, pleasant emotions. What feelings are you immersed in at the moment? How do you feel? Realize this.

If you are asking questions about how to enjoy life sincerely and fully, then first of all think about what it means to “enjoy life” for you personally, what your personal happiness is, how it is felt in your body and in your thoughts.

Be aware of your feelings and emotions in moments of joy. This will allow you to easily return to a state of happiness and remain in it constantly. After all, it is awareness that will help you prolong the state of euphoria.

On the topic: how to become happy and why is it beneficial?

Step #5. Use relaxation

Mindfulness and relaxation are closely related to each other. One cannot exist without the other. When you begin to follow Osho's recommendations and become more and more aware of yourself, you will feel yourself relaxing. And when the practice of relaxation becomes regular, you will begin to understand and feel how your mind calms down and you awaken.

But! Important advice: do not try to get into awareness through relaxation. On the contrary, become aware of yourself and you will quickly fall into relaxation.

Step #6. Use meditation

Meditation is a great way to turn off your mind, stop your thoughts, and become more mindful.

When the mind is without thoughts, this is meditation.

Any meditation begins with clearing thoughts, and only then comes relaxation of the whole body, automatically.

Why Meditation is Essential for Mindfulness

Thanks to meditation, we come to awareness, stop the internal dialogue, accumulate energy and connect with our higher self, with the divine principle.

We find ourselves in the flow of the space of options for absolutely all events - this is a real creative workshop where you can create your life and reality.

Each meditation has a positive effect on the entire body, promoting its healing and restoration, relaxation and tranquility. There are many forms and techniques of meditation used to achieve various goals: there are meditations for attracting what you want into your life, there are meditations for cleansing from internal blocks, there is even a special healing meditation - the list is endless.

All you need is to choose your own meditation that is ideally suitable and comfortable for you, that matches your goals and corresponds to your intentions.

Start meditating. I recommend doing this daily. Meditating twice a day - in the morning and before bed - would be ideal.

Here is one of the wonderful morning meditations that I personally use. It allows you to recharge yourself with energy and positivity for the whole day.

You can conduct meditations in complete silence, or you can listen to meditations in which a voice in audio format will guide and guide you.

Step #7. Be aware of what you are doing

An important condition on the path to awareness: you must
stop performing any actions automatically, unconsciously.
What do we do automatically? For example:

We brush our teeth;
We eat;
We smoke;
We walk along a familiar route (almost without looking at the road);

and hundreds of other actions performed in “autopilot” mode.

This approach is fundamentally wrong.

All you need is to make your actions conscious:

If you brush your teeth, feel the whole process: how you hold the toothbrush, how it moves, what the toothpaste tastes like;
If you are having a meal, feel the taste of the food with all its subtlest shades, notice to yourself how you hold the cutlery in your hands, how gradually you feel full;
If you smoke, feel your every movement: how you look for cigarettes and a lighter in your pocket, how you light a cigarette, how you take a drag;
If you are walking somewhere, feel your every step, pay attention to what landscapes surround you, what panoramas open up, what you hear.

The only thing you need to learn is observation. Watch! Watch every action you take. Observe every thought that passes through your mind. Observe every desire that comes over you. Observe even minor gestures - how you walk, talk, eat, take a bath. Continue to observe, in everything, everywhere. Let everything become an opportunity to observe.

Don't allow yourself to do anything automatically in your sleep. Stop being a robot!

In his book, Osho says very important words filled with deep meaning:

Be total in your actions, and if you are total you will have to be aware; no one can be total without awareness. To be total means not to think about anything else. If you eat, you just eat; you are totally here and now. Food is everything: you don't just stuff yourself with food, you enjoy it.
Body, mind, soul - they are all in tune while you eat, and there is harmony, a deep rhythm in all three layers of your being. Then eating can become meditation, walking can become meditation, when you fetch water from a well it can become meditation, when you cook food it can become meditation. The little things are transformed: they become luminous actions.