Minding my own mind
This is my third blog of RDBlog week which runs from September 24, 2018, to September 28, 2018. Today the prompt is:
Mindfulness – What does mindfulness mean to you and how can it help as we live with our autoimmune condition?
I must confess, I had to start by looking up the word mindfulness and then determine if I practice it. I hear the term a lot, but it seems so nebulous that I had no idea how to answer the prompt. Am I mindful? I know at times in my life I have been mindless, but mindful?
Definition
So, I started with the definition. According to Dictionary.com:
Mindfulness –
1. The state or quality of being mindful or aware of something.
2. Psychology.
1. A technique in which one focuses one’s full attention only on the present, experiencing thoughts, feelings, and sensations but not judging them: The practice of mindfulness can reduce stress and physical pain.
2. The mental state maintained using this technique.
Based on this definition, I am mindful sometimes about some things. But wait, I do not use a specific technique. I would call my practice of mindfulness, mindless. That is not likely what we are discussing. Ugg this is so confusing.
I decided to investigate the technique; maybe that would offer some insight. After a few minutes, I came across this on a Mayo Clinic website.
“What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress.”
Image by Doug Neill – all rights reserved
Selective focus
That definition reminds me of meditation, something I fail at miserably. Maybe that is something to think about? Do I meditate? Before I began writing this blog I was thinking a great deal about what to write. But I also must admit that even more, I was contemplating the warm weather outside and how I miss riding my bicycle. Hmm, maybe I missed the point of the exercise?
I do practice mindfulness when I dig in to solve a problem. The other day I was over focused on a project trying to work out issues with the participant list for RDBlog week. I was all engrossed and when Sheryl was talking about our plans for the remainder of the week I did not hear a thing she said; I was truly over focused just not on what Sheryl was saying. My reality was somewhere completely different.
So, I suppose I do practice mindfulness, but I seldom do it with regard to anything but an immediate problem that needs to be solved.
Perhaps at some point, I will figure out how to apply mindfulness to my health. In the meantime, I guess I better try to recall if I took my pills today or was that yesterday. Oh, never mind.
-30-
I made a vow at the beginning of the year to do mindful injections. It sounds silly, but I often forget if I done an injection or not. If you’ve lived with a chronic health condition for long periods of time, you do things automatically and over-doing insulin injections is obviously not wise! I’m a bit better these days, but auto-pilot still goes on.
Emma: I knew i need to buy insulin but forgot which one. SO I bought the kind I thought I needed. Well heck it was not needed. So back to the store, and I brought the same one again, that is two strikes. Third time is a charm, of course now I have 2 extra bottles of long acting. What a waste. OK in those days insulin cost $6.00 / vial. Imagine the waste. LOL
Thanks Rick – I needed a good laugh! Hopefully we can read some posts this week that enlighten us both. Meanwhile I’m taking me a wildcard!
Pollyanna – I am hopeful I can be enlightened to be mindful of my mindlessness.
Thanks for the laugh, Rick! I can highly recommend Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn, especially the audio version. The way he presents it makes a lot of sense. I used to practice mindfulness when I was going through a really hard time and it was absolutely the gateway to joy and coping. These days, I move too fast. And it always reminds me of this amazing quote from that program: “life is made up of moments. The faster you move, the more you miss.”
Yeah, I know. I’ll be mindful tomorrow… or the next day.
Lene, I did try to meditate for several weeks as part of a work activity many years ago. I kept falling asleep. It was a total failure, but I did like the naps.
I keep trying meditation. I’ve not had much success with it. But I keep trying
You are up on me. I have difficulty even trying. My mind goes at about the speed of light sometimes.
I’m with you on not really understanding and practicing mindfulness.
Actually, I go for intentional mindlessness–thinking about anything but the present pain and difficulty. It’s a bit . . . SQUIRREL! . . . to poor people trying to converse with me, but I have learned to amuse myself.
I love intentional mindlessness. I am goign to use that.
I have a friend going to a full-day workshop today about mindfulness. I am not are what to expect from it, but I look forward to hearing about her experience. Your post was insightful.
Thank you Phyllisa. I admire anyone who can practice mindfulness.