By Maya B.

The definition of Mindfulness is:

Mind.ful.ness

Noun

1) the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.

2) a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while commonly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Mindfulness was introduced to me as a stress buster some years ago.

It really is a wonderful thing — the ability to concentrate on one thought, feeling or sensation while, more importantly, shutting out all the other noise, thoughts, feelings, and worries.

The basic, most popular practice of mindfulness is turning one’s attention to the breath, simply because it is in all of us.

Breathing is the one thing no human can escape, and so we use it as a focal point. Even in breathing, there are numerous exercises, like counting breaths, all the while minding the feeling of your inflating and deflating lungs.

Someone once told me they spent 10 hours at a retreat concentrating solely on the small space between the upper lip and the nostrils, and the way the breath hit that area.

Because it was developed from ancient Asian Buddhist cultural disciplines, it’s a little difficult to track the history of mindfulness. Though, it’s largely agreed that in the 1970s, a group of Buddhist students began implementing and developing mindfulness exercises in their disciplines geared towards helping clients with mental health — coaches and athletes, teachers and students, all with the goal of helping them be better and have better, more productive lives.

In my time practicing mindfulness, I’ve personally added methods to my arsenal, including guided meditation and mindful eating, walking, swimming and (of course) reading, amongst others.

Unlike the other approaches, I haven’t read much about mindful reading, but there is quite a bit of information out there that expands on it.

What I did do, though, is study the fundamentals of mindfulness and implement it in my reading. (By the way, this is not some great invention! Mindfulness can be implemented in every area of your life.)

As readers, we all know that cracking open a book is normally a relaxing activity, but how many times have you found your mind travelling away from the pages and words, and soon thinking about everything BUT the story in your hands?

Mindful reading can help with that. The idea is that we’re reading and concentrating on what’s on the page — and that alone. Not only does this free us to be fully immersed in the story, but we can also achieve the relaxation that is so desired when we finally make time to read.

These times we’re experiencing are no doubt the most unusual in (likely most of) our lives. It has proven to be an activator and enhancer of stress for all. Think of how wonderful it would be if we could use one of our favourite activities to terminate such stress, even if only for a short period of time.

Reading is a great opportunity to catapult us into marvellous worlds, not to mention meet amazing personalities! Being able to take full advantage of that, and to be completely absorbed by it, is a glorious gift we have at our disposal.

To give you a little head start, here’s a short exercise for you to try:

1. Open your book and start reading.

2. Try to read a bit slower than you’re used to, taking in every word and sentence; consider what they mean to you.

3. Be aware of the words and of your thoughts; minimize them to the story only.

4. If you find that your mind is drifting away into other thoughts, that’s okay. Gently bring your concentration back to the story.

That’s it! That’s all it takes. If you’ve never practiced mindfulness, this may take a little bit of training for your brain. But I promise, repeating it over and over again as you advance in your book will eventually lead you to achieve that state.

Aside from reading, mindfulness is a great tool in all areas of life. There are so many sources out there about it and so many modifications you can apply, depending on what resonates with you best.

I wish you a relaxing read. Have any must-read mindfulness books? Put them on our radar here!

Namaste!