Mindfulness changed my life
03 Jul 2013 | Gareth Walker
Hello. My name is Gareth, and mindfulness changed my
life.
I was diagnosed with MS a few years ago which was an
extremely stressful and anxious time for me. I decided that level
of stress wasn't doing me any good and resolved to do something
about it. I had heard that meditation was good for stress relief,
so I picked up a book by Jon Kabat-Zinn called Wherever You Go, There You Are. Kabat-Zinn is
the man who first secularised the concept of mindfulness and
brought it to the Western world. This book changed everything. I
fell in love with the ideals of mindfulness as soon as I first
truly understood them, and the more that I practised the more
peaceful I became.
I have now been practising mindfulness for about three
years and the feelings of peace and happiness in my life are
unparalleled. It seems quite unbelievable that this is as a result
of a practice which is so simple and is free of charge for any
human being. Mindfulness does not equate to happiness of course,
but it does create the conditions in which happiness can grow and
flourish. These days my body is fundamentally broken, yet
perversely I don't think that I have ever been as happy in my
entire life.
You see, most of the bad stuff with MS comes from the
future: "If I lose my sight then I will no longer be able to look
at my beautiful children" or the past: "I can't climb mountains and
see the countryside like I used to". With mindfulness, we train our
brains to live more and more in the present moment and those kind
of stories in the mind become fewer and fewer, as we become better
at escorting our minds back to the present moment. For me at least,
the results of this daily practice have been breathtaking:
significantly less anxiety, improved concentration, better sleep,
increased creativity, the ability to deal with stressful situations
and a general feeling of wellbeing that has persisted for a long
time now.
About a year ago I had the idea to create a website
about mindfulness, to tell others about these massive benefits and
also to help de-mystify the practice, which could be considered by
some to be something religious or mystical, when in fact it is
neither. Mindfulness can be tricky concept to get your head around
at first, especially if you have never tried anything like this
before. The website I created is Everyday
Mindfulness and it tries to explain mindfulness in an
'everyday' way without any of the other issues that can come with
mindfulness. The site is a work in progress, and we hope to improve
it within the months and years to come, providing methods and
support for people wanting to undertake the practice of
mindfulness.
There is also a forum attached to the site, where people can
come and get advice on their mindfulness practice and talk more
generally about the whole thing. We also have a Twitter
account and a Facebook page which are growing in popularity.
The only aim of this project is to promote mindfulness in the best
way that we can and anyone is welcome. Do come along and join
us.
Visit Everyday Mindfulness to find out more.
Tags:
Live life mindfully