Healing happens in this moment. Healing does not happen yesterday, nor does it happen next week. It only happens in this moment. Therefore, if we want to engage in healing and participate in healing, we have to meet it where it lives – in this moment.
No matter how chaotic or hopeless our life may be, if we truly slow down and just live in this moment, right now, we see that life in this very moment is actually OK. No matter how uncertain or grim the future looks, No matter how dark or regrettable the past may seem, this moment, in the here and now, is completely free from the bondage of the past and the anxieties of the future.
But how do we live in the present? Our minds are always caught up in the past or the future, and even if we are thinking about what is happening in the moment, we are evaluating or judging what is happening instead of simply experiencing it. That is the nature of an untrained mind, a mind that causes stress and pain for us, because it stubbornly clings to what has gone by and what is not yet.
Fortunately, there is a way out. We can change the way our minds work by training the mind through mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is a skill that allows us to live in the present moment, and it is a skill that can be learned and strengthened through repetition and practice.
Mindfulness is nonjudgmental awareness of the present moment. It is a practice of paying attention to this moment, completely, deliberately, and without judgment. Practicing mindfulness with worry and anxiety is to bring nonjudgmental awareness to our experience in the present moment. That means paying attention to our fear and anxiety in a particular way, consistent with the mindfulness technique.
We typically do two things with thoughts and emotions, or anything that arises in our consciousness: Hold on to it, or push it away. With mindfulness, we do something different: We don’t grasp onto thoughts and emotions, and we don’t push them away or suppress them. We simply observe them, without judgment, and let them go.
Easier said than done! That’s why it takes practice and training. With regular practice, our “mindfulness muscle” gets stronger and stronger, and we’re more able to sit with uncomfortable feelings and thoughts, let them go, and return to the breath. Over time, we learn to reside and live in the present moment. Bit by bit, we can learn to let go of the past. Bit by bit, we can learn to let go of the need to control the future. Bit by bit, we can begin to heal.
Mindfulness FAQ 