[okiedokie]

Mindfullness:

Aware that life is available only in the present moment and that it is possible to live happily in the here and now, I am committed to training myself to live deeply each moment of daily life. I will try not to lose myself in dispersion or be carried away by regrets about the past, worries about the future, or craving, anger or jealousy in the present. I will practise mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the present moment. I am determined to learn the art of mindful living by touching the wondrous, refreshing and healing elements that are inside and around me, and by nourishing seeds of joy, peace, love and understanding in myself, thus facilitating the work of transformation and healing in my consciousness.

This is one of the core skills of DBT. It has made all the difference for me in my life.
Best,
Okie

[Junerain]

Thank you for that......I am trying, not to regret, my past so much.............

[Fuzzybear]

(((((((((((((( okie ))))))))))))))

[pachyderm]

In the present moment... I have fears...

[kim_johnson]

It can be okay to feel the fear, too. The idea is to keep your attention in the present moment. You can focus on so many things in the present. Fear being one. The birds singing being another. A cup of coffee being yet another. I like to focus on my breathing as it helps me feel grounded and connected and safe (sometimes). But sometimes I like to sit with the fear, too. To feel afraid and be okay with that at the same time.

[DePressMe]

The here and now is a beautiful place to be in....

[Danialla]

I liked your post Kim, the moment can be so many things to so many people. I try very hard when I am afraid, to focus on something very small and insignificant. Something I may take for granted any other time.

Washing my hands, listening to the birds and really hearing them, watching an ant cross my living room floor (it is ant season here), listening to the ringing in my ears, etc.

Mindfulness is a wonderful idea. Sometimes harder than others to put into practice, but really worth the results.

[kim_johnson]

The thing that I find so wonderful about it is that there are so many things that one can focus on in the present moment. Some include: Thoughts, feelings / emotions, bodily sensations, auditory sensations, visual sensations, tactile sensations etc etc etc.

When I did DBT we started by focusing on external stuff (via our senses) then gradually built up to doing some exercises that focused on the sensations themselves (tactile or taste sensations in particular) then gradually built up into doing some exercises that focused on internal sensations like breathing or emotions or thoughts. People tend to struggle a little more with the latter kind - struggle with feeling a bit lost in them.

The wonderful thing is that at any point in time you have two options: To continue focusing on that or to change the object of attention and focus on something else. So (for example) one could focus on feeling afraid. Sometimes... It is nice to feel the fear and see that nothing bad happens from the fear and you don't have a panic attack and it doesn't kill you. Sometimes it is unpleasant, though, and so you might want to switch to focusing on something else (like your breathing or something). Acceptance and change...

[okiedokie]

Mindfullness is a simple concept, but by no means is the practice of it easy. I use mindfullness to deal with the difficult emotions in my life. I let them wash over me, but not overwhelm me. When I can't handle it anymore, I stop. Then I soothe myself by distracting, or focusing on something else altogether, like shopping!

Thanks for reading and responding. The wisdom on this site is really incredible!
Love,
Okie

[kim_johnson]

I hear you with the 'wash over me' thing. It astounded me that emotional pain (for example) ebbed and flowed like waves lapping upon the shore if I neither clung to it nor pushed it away...

I've been meaning to get back into practicing mindfulness meditation...

[splitimage]

I love the concept of mindfullness. Mindfullness meditation was taught in both the treatment centre for addiction that I went to and the psych hospital i was in. I don't have as much time to practice the meditation as I'd like now, but I know it was really useful to me when I was stressed out over job hunting, or prepping to go into an interview. I use it too now at work, whenever my boss or who boss get all excited and blow things out of proportion, I'm able to just remain calm and not let their stress get to me.

I also find it works really well with AA's concept of living one day at a time.

--splitimage