My Journey to Mindfulness: a Writer’s Perspective
Everyone seems to be talking about mindfulness in recent years. What does it mean to truly Be Mindful? I decided to try and see if I could figure it out.
It all starts with meditation for me. 2019, for personal reasons I’ll write about later, was the hardest year my family went through. So my journey to mindfulness can also be looked at as a spiritual awakening as well. When I stopped to listen to the world and not my own neurotic mind, the wonder in my imagination came alive. And when I stopped to listen, I was no longer living in the past or future, I was simply here.
When Covid hit, I took a proactive approach to losing my job as a bartender. With the uncertainty of the pandemic, I started making a solid routine for myself. I began waking up five hours earlier than I was used to. I started journaling about everything. Keeping a broad range was important to me since I had remained in such a tight focus for the last 8 years in the food and drink industry. My writing topics were scattered but I needed to indulge my curiosities so I was okay with it. As long as I was writing something, I was happy. For a period of time, at least.
I began hitting a brick wall with this approach, however, because I finished no articles, or stories, or projects this way. I know many experienced writers would not be surprised at this. I laughed at my own naivete, believe me, but then I moved onto new approaches. A few keys to success is the ability to take on new methods, consume new information regularly and not remain static.
The stressors of 2020 also pushed me to take control of my emotional outbursts that I seemed to be displaying along with the rest of the world. I needed a change.
At this point, I began to incorporate a half hour of uninterrupted meditation and a half hour of piano practice. For me, the stacking of other creative practices have greatly alleviated the monotony that writing can sometimes have. It also allows for my mind to keep away those distractions that I tend to reach for like social media or snacks, however they may manifest.
I want to take this moment to stress, however, that it is very important to allow yourself to have that broad freedom to explore. It is when we can master the creative exploration in tandem with mastery of discipline and structure that we can really shine in all our expressed glory.
In addition to meditation, I also began to realize how important the breath truly is. Our breath is an unsung hero that we usually attribute bad smells like coffeebreath and halitosis, but it really is something that the more we pay attention to, the more benefits we receive. With more and more conscious breathing throughout the day, I notice higher energy levels in my body, clearer thoughts that I am more able to catch and a generally better outlook on life.
I mentioned these observations to my cousin, who works as a clinical doctor for a community serving clinic, and she informed me of recent studies tying breathing practices with treatments for many ailments, including depression.
A quick Google search will yield many articles on the National Library of Medicine laying out all the different studies focusing on the health benefits of meditation, breathwork, and yoga.
As I began regularly practicing mediation and conscious breathing, I noticed more where my attention lies and had more control over gently shifting back to my intended work and practices. Say I pull out my phone (for anything really) during a morning writing block, that mindful voice in my head notices and I have the choice to let go of distraction and go back to productivity and creativity.
When you meditate, a common practice is to let go of any thoughts that may come about when you realize you are having them. This practice of letting go of your thoughts during meditation is very useful during waking hours. When you begin to ‘wake up’ to the unconscious habits you have that you may want to rid, it becomes much more manageable to retrain yourself simply by noticing first.
Another side effect of practicing mindfulness is the strengthening of your posture. As a child, I have many PTSD inducing memories of my Korean mother nagging my slouching posture constantly. I look back and shake my head at sixteen year old me resisting my mother’s well intentioned nag. The truth is having good posture is, well, good for you in mind, body and spirit.
Making all these changes to my own behavior have only been so manageable with the help of quieting my mind. When you don’t have so much chatter up there with worry or anger or frustration, you are much more able to effectively handle your environment.
I am a work in progress. In our waking lives, I believe we are all works in progress. I, by no means, am perfect at these practices and I am still journeying to be always changing and improving. In my early stages of practicing mindfulness, I can say two things: one is that you will never “get there” and two is you are already there.
