Mindfulness for Daily Living

Mindfulness was presented to me during a time when I really needed something to calm my body and mind. Without it, I am not sure I would have been able to complete graduate school. A symptom of depression is lack of focus, while a symptom of anxiety is having a monkey mind.

The Buddhists coined the term monkey mind which means 'unsettled; restless; capricious; whimsical; fanciful; inconstant; confused; indecisive; uncontrollable'. In a nutshell, this was me.

During graduate school, I was blessed to live down the street from the Austin Shambhala Center. ‘Shambhala is a global community with a purpose to contribute to a society informed by meditation - with a culture of kindness and care, embracing the inherent goodness of every person. Our programs, groups and community gatherings offer a way to train in spiritual warriorship; study and practice these teachings from the Buddhist tradition in everyday life.'

It was through these teachings that I began to learn and understand the transformation that was possible from simply sitting in silence to quiet the mind. The outcome of my training in spiritual warriorship was forever life changing. I learned to grow my awareness from the inside in order to see and experience the outside in a whole new and improved way.

For me, mindfulness has many definitions. The one I like most is...To be open, flexible, and curious while being conscious of your own Self (sensations, feelings, thoughts) and all that is around you in any given moment.

To be mindful, means using your mind/brain to get in touch and connect with your 5 senses at any point in time, with the intention of experiencing a moment with complete and full presence.

In my counseling practice, I enjoy guiding people towards re-discovering the essence of their Self and acknowledging their own power to regulate or feel grounded by re-directing their focused attention to Seeing, Hearing, Touching, Tasting, or Smelling. This practice instantly helps us to get out of our monkey mind and soothe our Self. Animals live in accordance with their senses so why don’t we?

The philosophy of Root&Connect is to remember how to take care of yourself through a daily practice of looking at your hand for guidance. The hand holds all the power we need to make our own choices for how to feel good and live well.

Imagine trying to live without one of your senses? To Sense is to Live.

Our 5 fingers are the 5 Branches of Wellness - Mind, Body, Spirit, Emotions and Community. We nourish theses parts of our Self through:

1. Practicing mindfulness & connecting with our 5 senses - See, Hear, Touch, Taste and Smell

2. Deep Breathing + Yoga + Earthing

3. SEN + M = Sleep, Exercise and Nutrition + Meditation

4. Self-Compassion = Self-Care = Self-Love

5. Relationships and Gratitude

To read more on why mindfulness matters, visit: http://www.rootandconnect.com/blog/2014/6/26/to-be-mindfulmatters

For more info on Shambhala, visit: https://portland.shambhala.org/