What is mindfulness according to Marsha Linehan:
Intentionally living with awareness in the present moment. Waking up from automatic or rote behaviors to participate and be present in our own lives.
Without judging or rejecting the moment. Noticing consequences, discerning helpfulness and harmfulness but letting go of evaluating, avoiding, suppressing or blocking the present moment.
Without attachment to the moment. Attending to the experience of each moment, rather than ignoring the present by clinging to the past or grabbing for the future.
Learning to live life mindfully has been the best tool I have ever learned. It keeps me in the present, not guilt or shame from the past nor worry or anxiety about the future. Mindfulness can be used while doing anything like taking a shower, making tea or coffee, brushing your teeth or my favorite is using it while in conversation with someone. Just one thing in the moment and then the next moment and the next. When I am listening I try to only listen not think of my to do list or what I am going to say next.
Marsha Linehan's DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) states that mindfulness is used to:
reduce suffering and increase happiness
increase control of your mind
experience reality as it is
The DBT Skills, Handouts and Worksheets by M. Linehan, page 45 states that mindfulness will:
reduce pain, tension and stress
stop letting your mind be in control
live life with your eyes wide open
experience the reality of your...connection to the universe, essential goodness and essential validity
What is Mindfulness Practice according to Marcia Linehan?
Mindfulness and mindfulness skills can be practiced anytime and anywhere while doing anything. Intentionally paying attention to the moment, without judging it or holding on to it.
Meditation - using mindfulness skills while sitting, standing or lying down quietly for a period of time. Focus the mind while attending to body sensations, emotions, thoughts, or our breath. Open the mind by paying attention to whatever comes into our awareness.
Contemplative prayer - such as Christian centering prayer, the rosary, Jewish Shema, Islamic Sufi practice, or Hindu raja yoga are spiritual mindfulness practices.
Mindfulness Movement - such as yoga, martial arts such as Qigong, tai chi, Akido, karate and spiritual dancing. Also hiking, horseback riding and walking can be ways to practice mindfulness.
I strive to practice mindfulness every day, all throughout my day. When I am living in the moment I am usually okay. I ground myself in the task at hand, one moment at a time. My goal is to live life fully mindfully. Attempting to do so has increased my sense of feeling well, happy and has helped improve my relationships.
Take good care,
Christine
We are, above all, seekers of wholeness. Angel Wisdom, 12/29