[hamster-bamster]

I have always been awful with mindfulness. I dropped out of a DBT group for bipolar where there was talk about observing without judgment. I go to restorative yoga where there is always talk about "just observing", and, finally, out of the blue, I am getting it! I was examining my past love life today, beginning in adolescence, with its fear of my own feelings, a tendency to initiate relationships without resolving prior ones and thus ending up loving two guys, and for the first time I was ... infatuated... curious... accepting rather than cursing myself. Just observed it without judgment. It was so amazing to realize that I am doing it - observing without judgment. I was not pitying myself or anything on the opposite end of the spectrum from cursing - I was just neutrally observing. An awesome feeling!

[Gus1234U]

awesome, Hampster, and it just gets better~ best wishes,, Gus

[fergus]

I'm stuck on thoughts are not facts

[bluemountains]

I am so glad that you are finding mindfulness so enlightening! I wish I could figure it all out. Today I had another conversation about using mindfulness with my t. She is trying to get me to understand, but I just don't get it. I understand using my senses, but I don't know how to effectively transfer this to emotions. I'm going to keep working at it.
Way to go!
Bluemountains

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by bluemountains

I am so glad that you are finding mindfulness so enlightening! I wish I could figure it all out. Today I had another conversation about using mindfulness with my t. She is trying to get me to understand, but I just don't get it. I understand using my senses, but I don't know how to effectively transfer this to emotions. I'm going to keep working at it.
Way to go!
Bluemountains

Bluemountains, as I said, it came out of the blue (no pun intended). I was not working on it. But it gives me motivation to start working on it now.

[Confusedinomicon]

For me, mindfulness is like water. It erodes the toughest rocks yet is essential for life. Mindfulness is accepting that fact. It's observing and experiencing in the neutral zone.

A good example of it being used (and silly) was when my TA explained his getting a speeding ticket.

There are streetlights that have cameras on them, and he got caught for speeding. They had someone serve him. Basically, a nice looking older lady gave him his tickets and told him he would have to go to court + fee or take drivers ed. He was upset at the lady for giving him the ticket, but this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't sped in the first place. He ended up doing drivers ed online. Mindfulness allows you to let go of your emotions tied to the situation and look at it from a neutral point of view. He was also able to relinquish the anger he had towards himself for speeding and got over the fact that he was served.

This situation is silly, but it can be applied to many things in life. It opens you to critiques which allows you to better yourself. It also allows you to remove your emotions from things in the past and see them for what they were. This allows you to be more open to critiques and discussion about what happened so you're more willing to work on it.

Disclaimer: This is what mindfulness means to me

[bluemountains]

Originally Posted by Confusedinomicon

For me, mindfulness is like water. It erodes the toughest rocks yet is essential for life. Mindfulness is accepting that fact. It's observing and experiencing in the neutral zone.

A good example of it being used (and silly) was when my TA explained his getting a speeding ticket.

There are streetlights that have cameras on them, and he got caught for speeding. They had someone serve him. Basically, a nice looking older lady gave him his tickets and told him he would have to go to court + fee or take drivers ed. He was upset at the lady for giving him the ticket, but this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't sped in the first place. He ended up doing drivers ed online. Mindfulness allows you to let go of your emotions tied to the situation and look at it from a neutral point of view. He was also able to relinquish the anger he had towards himself for speeding and got over the fact that he was served.

This situation is silly, but it can be applied to many things in life. It opens you to critiques which allows you to better yourself. It also allows you to remove your emotions from things in the past and see them for what they were. This allows you to be more open to critiques and discussion about what happened so you're more willing to work on it.

Disclaimer: This is what mindfulness means to me

Actually this makes good sense and I like analogies that are easy to understand. Thanks, Confused!