“Mindfulness” is a buzz word in the wellness world. But what does it truly mean? Mindfulness is a state of active and open attention on the present. It includes observing your thoughts and emotions from a distance and without judgment. When you’re mindful, you observe your feelings without getting caught up in them—something that can be very difficult when you’re going through struggle or hardship.
Mindfulness and self-acceptance are two sides of the same coin.
In any moment that you posess one of these, the other will accompany it.
Mindfulness is a state of non-judgement. When you practice mindfulness, you’re learning to accept yourself exactly as you are in this moment (the good, the “bad”, and ugly). You may notice that a part of yourself that judges your body, your mind, and/or your core self, but when we can step out of our heads and simply observe, we begin to see how beautiful all parts of us and life truly are! It’s just that sometimes our thoughts get in the way and cause us pain on top of the original pain that comes with living life. With practice at being mindful (and eventually accepting), those thoughts de-fuse from who we are and they lose their power over us.
Being mindful involves giving your attention to what is arising in the present moment (without judgment).
It’s about being aware of your thoughts and emotions, noticing them, but not labeling them as good or bad/right or wrong.
In order to become more accepting of yourself, you must stay focused on the present moment–you cannot affect what happened yesterday or predict what will happen tomorrow. At the same time, we can certainly learn from our past experiences and make choices that support us today and into our future. When we become more aware of our thoughts and emotions as they arise during meditation practice (or any time), we gain insight into how these internal experiences affect our sense of self-worth over time–and this awareness gives us power over how we define ourselves!
Mindfulness can give insight into our mindset and emotional patterns.
Mindfulness provides a powerful tool for understanding the way our minds work. By learning to be mindful – aware and detached – we gain insight into our mindset and emotional patterns. This can help us improve our relationships with others as well as ourselves.
It’s important to remember that learning how to be more mindful comes in time and contiues throughout a lifeyime!
Mindfulness helps us to keep from suppressing or denying our thoughts and emotions.
Mindfulness helps us refrain from suppressing or denying thoughts and emotions.
When we suppress our inner experience, it puts us into shadow. The shadow is the part of ourselves that we deny, repress, or conceal from the world. This can include unacknowledged feelings such as sadness or anger; repressed memories of childhood traumas; and unconscious motivations that drive our behavior but remain hidden to us because they are so frightening or shameful to acknowledge (for example: “I’m not enough.” or “I’m not loveable.”).
Mindfulness is also about cultivating compassion for yourself.
Compassion is the natural byproduct of mindfulness. If you are present with your experience, then you are also aware of how your emotions and thoughts affect your body. You may notice that when you feel anxious or depressed, it’s hard to breathe deeply or relax muscles like the jaw or shoulders that typically tense up in these states. When we’re caught up in our mental dramas, we tend not to notice the physical sensations that come with stress and tension; instead, our minds race ahead into imagined scenarios that only make things worse.
Mindfulness helps us recognize these patterns so we can choose new ones–like breathing deeply or relaxing those tensed muscles–that help bring us back into balance again. Compassion for yourself means acknowledging what’s happening inside without criticism; recognizing when something feels difficult but choosing not to become overwhelmed by it; accepting where things are at this moment without needing them all neatly wrapped up before moving forward (which would in reality require an unrealistic amount of control).
By recognizing your thought patterns, you can start to untangle them and make room for something new.
Before we can change our thought patterns we must first become aware of them. This can be difficult, because the way we think about ourselves is often unconscious. But with practice and patience, you’ll start to recognize some of your typical patterns–the ones that keep you stuck in unhelpful ways of thinking about yourself.
Once you’ve identified these patterns, it’s time for the hard part: letting go of them or replacing them with something better. It’s not easy; old habits die hard! But when we have compassion for ourselves as we work through this process–recognizing how difficult change can be while still being patient with ourselves–we give ourselves tremendous room for growth and healing.
The practice of mindfulness is a powerful tool for self-acceptance. By becoming more aware of your thoughts and emotions, you can untangle them and make room for something new. The more time you spend in the present moment, the less likely negative self-talk will have power over your life.
Arturo Ruiz Coaching 