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My Experience with Mindfulness/Meditation

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A number of journals and articles in recent months are addressing the ancient practice of meditation or mindfulness. I suppose those more engaged with this practice would distinguish between the two. The following is less a technical discussion of the topic but rather my random thoughts based on my experience. Two ways I find some benefit from mindfulness/meditation:

  • Clarity. I was first introduced to the idea formally during a leadership training course at a prior employer. For whatever reason the simple 5 minute exercise seemed to resonate with me right away. The idea of clearing my mind (or rebooting for my technical friends) prior to engaging in a training session made perfect sense. I found it very easy – and still do – to let my mind drift into a hundred directions during a meeting or training class. This reality has nothing to do with the quality of the instruction or relevance of the topic. It has to do with my mind wanting to float and drift to any shiny mental object crossing its path. Add to this our 21st century gizmo-enabled-always-connected (GEAC) world and the challenge of mindfulness is only amplified.
  • Buffering. Another area I find benefit is with building mental space – building the gap between the multiple stimuli in my life and the reaction or response. The stress of everyday life could wear on us to the point we have no more fuse and thus an immediate and negative reaction may ensue. For me this practice builds a buffer or level of indirection. Early mindfulness sessions taught me to simply recognize what is going on in my head and catalog it. Recognize the emotion whether positive or negative and address it at the right time. I understand categorizing the emotion positive or negative is generally not advocated by the mindfulness community. But sometimes it is just obvious.

Back to definitions: my take is mindfulness is something practiced continually throughout the day for any task we might do regardless of its importance or triviality. Something as simple as packing my suitcase for a trip can be a mindful activity. If I pay attention to the things I put in the bag, then I don’t stress out on the way to the airport wondering if I forgot a critical item difficult to replace. Conversely, meditation is the gymnasium or dojo for building these muscles. It is not for just the stressful moments but rather for those calm portions of our life. We “store up” the mental strength and self-control needed to deal with life.

What about you? Are you engaging in the practice of meditation/mindfulness and if so what benefits are you observing in your journey?

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