From others’ perspective, you are a person. What are you from your own perspective? We live in our heads, but are we our minds? And what might we be without - or beyond - our imagined and embodied selves?
Tag: Mindfulness and Contemplative Practice
Outside Inside
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.
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 