The Truth (and Untruth) about Mindfulness

How mindful are you of the reality of mindfulness? What is the Reality of Mindfulness? by Linda Bloom Mindfulness can provide a direct path to the experience that we desire. Those who believe that being mindful is blissful will inevitably be disappointed. Since being mindful is about being present with one’s experience, whatever that may be at any given moment, the range of possibilities of what can show up is infinite. Being complete isn’t necessarily synonymous with feeling right; it is merely about showing up and being at one with whatever is present in our field of experience now.  “Mindfulness is not something that is only done in the meditation hall; it is also done in the kitchen, in the garden, when we are on the telephone when we are driving a car when we are doing the dishes.” Thich Nhat Hanh Mindfulness has become a popular subject. Time magazine, an icon of mainstream American culture, featured a cover article on mindfulness. According to the article, all kinds of people, particularly celebrities, are engaging in this practice with surprising results. “Surprising” perhaps for those who haven’t been practicing mindfulness, but not for those who have been. What may be surprising is that mindfulness is not so much a form of meditation that one engages in with eyes closed and legs crossed on a zafu (pillow) once or twice a day, but it is a way of being in which we experience clear awareness of our moment-to-moment experience with a non-judging attitude. While to the uninitiated, this may seem simple; but simple isn’t necessarily easy.   Learning How to Stay Present Since the mind tends to jump from one object of attention to another, we are subject to distractions. When this happens, we can feel fragmented and incomplete. What is missing…

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