Mindfulness: Reduce your stress

by Elia Strange

A guy joins a monastery and takes a vow of silence: he’s allowed to say two words every seven years. After the first seven years, the elders bring him in and ask for his two words. "Cold floors," he says. They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him back in and ask for his two words. He clears his throats and says, "Bad food." They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him in for his two words. "I quit," he says. "That’s not surprising," the elders say. "You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here."

(A joke).

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Sometimes it is really difficult to focus on our lives. It seems that time goes really fast. When you realise it, usually it’s because you looked at the calendar, your watch, or because another weekend is approaching, you usually sigh deeply and say ‘Time is just flying’.

Is it actually flying? Does it have wings?

Why the time seems to go faster the older we are getting?

The biggest mistake we are doing is that we let the time go fast. We often don’t pay attention to the activities throughout the day, the things we are doing, the people we are talking to.

How to stop worrying and start living? By focusing intensely on everything you do.

When you are about to do something, for example, going to work in your car, stop for a moment and acknowledge the present moment. Feel it, realise it, look forward to it. Think about your journey for a moment.Then sit in your car and take a breath.

Feel the comfort of the sit on your back, the warm (or cool) air around you. Then start the car, but do it consciously, without the million things on your mind.

Focus on what you are doing. Enjoy the journey.

I love listening to the spiritual teachers who tells us about the Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle), about pre-paving our activities by thinking about them before we start on them, and not while we are doing them (Abraham-Hicks), and about being mindful throughout the day (Kabbart-Zin).

With these teachings you learn to enjoy many things that you do throughout the day, which otherwise, would be done on automatic pilot, or in other words, without your awareness.

If you worry about things on most days, have anxiety when thinking about your future, or feel that time goes way too fast, start reading books by the authors I’ve mentioned earlier. Find the author that resonates with your thinking and that motivates you to do what he (or she) is teaching you to do.

Learn to enjoy all your activities, no matter how big or small they are, learn to ‘milk’ the presence and develop your sense of awareness.

Close your eyes whenever you can and focus on your breath. No thoughts.

Only then, you can truly experience joy of your being.

Not the excitement and happiness which some things and your future plans can give you. But the real joy that arises from within when you are 100% present.

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Other articles you might like:


Are you mindful? (Quiz)

Reduce your stress

How to get a good night sleep

Are you independent? (Quiz)

How well do you know yourself? (Quiz)

The most common irrational beliefs

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