You're viewing the archived Hearts Center Forum.

Mindfulness. What is it, this term often used by teachers during their yoga classes? The respected Dalai Lama says that it is exercised “by putting your mind back on its object of meditation every time it falters, which it will often do. Initially it takes great exertion but eventually, you will spontaneously stay without effort."

Mindfulness, then, is paying attention. Mindfulness is being aware of an experience with acceptance. Mindfulness is living in the present moment––quite the opposite to the inner chatterbox dialogue we all engage in, wrestling with past and future events.

In yoga classes, students receive many opportunities to practice this process. As they pay attention to the inhalation and exhalation of the breath and watch, without judgment their participation in the precision of the yoga postures, the mind quietens, softens and enters mindfulness. It’s a quality known to us all; we enter it when we watch the gentle descent of enormous, fluffy snowflakes in the silence of a winter night. The mind lets go and, unaccompanied by thought, experiences the beauty of the moment. If you wish to become more conscious about observing and prolonging these mindful moments, consider practicing yoga as one of your resolutions for the fall.