Mindfulness has the power to change our live

Mindfulness may only be for some. It’s really a matter of whether it is the right time. Are you ready for it or not? Does it resonate with you? Because mindfulness isn’t a quick fix and when you get a better understanding of what mindfulness is, you start to see that mindfulness doesn’t fix anything. Instead, it changes our perception and teaches us practical tools to let go of our problem points.

Mindfulness creates clarity and allows us to make wise decisions. Ultimately, it is about enlightenment, but for most of us, that isn’t why they start meditating. Mostly, we start with mindfulness because there is something we want to get rid of or something we want to overcome. It can be anything. Stress, overthinking, worrying, a busy mind, etc. And for that, mindfulness is an excellent solution.

The first thing mindfulness gives you is that it will make you present.
Why is that so important? When our mind wanders off constantly. It’s like we’re not living fully. We’re not really there. And that can cause a lot of trouble. But not only troubles, we also miss many things in life. It’s like being in a dream state, doing our stuff on auto-pilot. And that’s a waste, especially when you know that our minds, on average, wander off for 50% of the time we’re awake. The positive news is that research shows that the more our mind is present, the happier we are. Enough reason to start with mindfulness.

When we’re more present, we will see many more things and get many more insights. Simply because we are more aware of what is happening. You can compare this with watching a movie. When you watch a movie partially, it’s hard to follow what this movie is about. When you watch the same film mindfully, being present, you get the whole picture, knowing precisely what it’s about. Many questions will fall off and the same goes for our own lives. When we’re daydreaming, we will have many questions, not knowing what this life is about. It gets complicated and we need clarification. Breathing mindfully is a start to filling up the gaps of not being present and getting more clarity and understanding.

Another essential aspect of mindfulness is that it teaches you how to deal with challenges and difficulties when they arise in the present moment. We learn how to engage with problems instead of running away from them. Because problems are unpleasant and we often do not know how to mindfully let go of these difficulties, we usually tend to not face them.

It’s not just about difficulties. Practicing mindfulness also gives us ways to deal with success and fame and how we can deal, for instance, with money rightly. In other words, mindfulness also teaches us how to deal with the positive things in life. The more we practice, the more we start to see the impermanence of things. When things go up, they also go down, and vice versa. The same goes for happiness and unhappiness, pleasantness and unpleasantness, etc. Having this deep insight based on our mindful experiences will help us to not cling and to let go. When we keep holding on, e.g., to positive things, it can also create a lot of stress and insecurity or other kinds of suffering when we need to let go of success. The same goes for suffering; when we can’t let go of bad experiences, we suffer longer than necessary.

In a way, mindfulness is the practice of learning to let go and not cling. As practitioners, we learn how to detach, be aware, and stay present with adequate mindfulness techniques. Life skills that would be valuable to everyone.

Once you do that, your life will change. You become more kind, more compassionate towards others and yourself. This happens because you will get a deep understanding of life. You will understand that every other living being deals with the same challenges and that life is not only about good things, fortune, luck and positivity. Once we deeply understand this, we start to become sensitive to the pain of others.

When mindfulness resonates with us, and we start accumulating more mindfulness energy due to our practice, we get a natural urge to learn more about it and to make it our own. When we apply mindful breathing under any circumstance, inner peace arises gradually. We discover the true essence of our own minds, which is what we call enlightenment. Transcending positivity and negativity, good and bad, life and death. Our perception changes and we start to see beyond all conditioned things.

Deeply hidden in our mind we find purity and brightness. Enlightenment is the essence of our mind, and there is nothing to gain or reach when it comes to enlightenment. Enlightenment is already present in our minds but often insufficient because of our confusion. That’s why we cannot see and experience it.
When we practice mindfulness, actually, we do not strive for enlightenment. Instead, we purify the mind and cut through our own delusion to see our mind’s essence.

Practicing mindfulness is, therefore, much more than combating stress or quieting our thoughts. It is about purification, enlightenment, and letting go of our ego and problem points.

Often, practitioners start with other intentions, not being interest in enlightenment. For them, it’s vague, not knowing precisely what it is or something they can’t obtain. They think that enlightenment differs from what they are searching for. But that isn’t true. When people start with mindfulness, they want to get rid of something they don’t like, whether worrying or dealing with stress, anger, frustration, etc. Letting go of these obstacles is not much different from practicing for enlightenment. The only difference is that when our aim is enlightenment, we won’t stop with mindfulness after we’ve gotten rid of something. And this helps us tremendously in integrating this practice into our lives. It becomes a treasure for life.

When I talk about enlightenment, this practice might sound complicated and difficult. Something we cannot obtain. Still, it’s all about simplicity, starting with mindful breathing. A simple technique that will keep you present and aware. From there on, you can take it step by step, learning more about the laws of our minds and the art of letting go.

Remember, enlightenment will always be found in the present moment. It is closer than we think and worth practicing for. It will change our lives, liberating us from all the suffering we’ve experienced.