Mindfulness: Beyond an Activity (Brooke)
“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
—Maya Angelou
It is ingrained in us since birth that we must be charitable — that in order to be a “good person,” we must sacrifice our needs for the needs of others. By no means is this wrong, but it neglects the second part of the lesson: When will we talk about, as Maya Angelou put it, the hand for “helping yourself?”
Yes, we must be generous, chivalrous, and honorable in our actions, but we must also know when to put ourselves first. Self-care is not selfish; it is self-help, self-appreciation, self-love. It is crucial to all aspects of life that one knows how and where to establish boundaries. The line between outward-looking altruism and inward-looking solicitude is perhaps the most challenging to place.
Our chief problem is confusing self-care with greed, but helping oneself need not be an avaricious objective. In fact, the best way that one can improve their life has to do with mindset.
Mindfulness and Mindfulness Practice
“[Mindfulness:] a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique”
We can enact mindfulness in all aspects of our lives because it exists beyond a singular activity. On paper, mindfulness means being completely present and aware of both internal and external details. Mindfulness is about noticing. Notice your breaths, feelings, thoughts — everything.
By practicing mindfulness, we can adjust our perception of our interactions with the world. We can look at the bigger picture, recognizing how small one experience is relative to the sum of all of our interactions. We can become better in tune with our bodies and emotions, understanding how we feel on every level. In turn, we can decrease the stress and conflicts that we face on a day-to-day basis.
Mindfulness Resources*
Below is a list of some resources you can use to practice mindfulness. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are some front runners in the world of mindfulness:
Free resources:
Mindfulness Youtube videos: Omega Institute
Check out some other resources here.
Share your mindfulness practice experience in the comments below!
If you are feeling down and need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at Letters Against Depression if you haven’t already. We send letters of hope and support to those who need someone there for them. You can request to receive letters here.
*These are not paid sponsorships or promotions