Open awareness meditation is not about choosing a single focus or anchor but rather about keeping an open focus (if that’s not a contradiction in terms) and staying anchored to the moment itself.
Category: Mindfulness and Contemplative Practice
Being Mindfully Curious
Curiosity says we should place greater value on questions than answers; on seeking understanding rather than making assumptions; and on challenging the things we take for granted every day. But equally importantly, I think, curiosity is about a quality of attention rather than a sure-fire technique to get to solutions or closure. There is a difference between wanting to understand something and needing to have certainty about it. What are some things we can do to incorporate curiosity in a mindful way, to suspend our habitual responding?
Music, Mindfulness and Flow
I’ve more than once noticed some interesting links between mindfulness and performing classical music. It might seem a bit esoteric, so bear with me. This article is not just about music; it is about the parallels between executing a craft and different states of mind and productivity.
You are not finished
Even though we might spend most of our time absorbed in present or future-focused activities, chances are that our evaluations of ourselves in the present moment are based almost entirely on the past. One theory even suggests we have a bias towards seeing ourselves as “complete” in the present moment. If the past is going to prompt us to change in a way that’s positive, and the present moment is where we have the power to begin any change and be clear-sighted about the future, then we need a space right here to be able to “put down” what’s gone before.
The Opposite of Thinking
What got me practising mindfulness? Dinging my brain in a bike accident in 2014. While recovering from a concussion, I suddenly had the time - five weeks booked off work - to sit and stare into space. No emails, no reading, no thinking. And this is how I discovered that it’s perfectly possible to sit and do nothing and actually enjoy it. In fact, I wondered whether right now is in fact the best place to be content.
All & None of the Above 