When we practice mindfulness, we are simply observing our experience. We are being impartial observers. What does it mean to be an impartial observer? One mindfulness practitioner described it as “observing without getting involved.” So it’s like that. In mindfulness practice, we simply observe everything in our experience without getting involved, without getting wrapped upContinue reading “What Does it Mean to Observe?”
Author Archives: hangruan108
How Do I Get Centered?
When we slow down and observe our mind, we find that our mind is always pulling us in different directions. Future, past, happy, sad. “I like this, I don’t like that.” It’s like a pendulum that’s always swinging back and forth. The pendulum is always swinging, but there is a point that is not moving.Continue reading “How Do I Get Centered?”
How Do I Declutter My Mind?
We have all seen cluttered spaces. Sometimes maybe our own spaces. A cluttered room, a cluttered office, a cluttered garage, a cluttered desk. Cluttered spaces don’t necessarily inspire a sense of calm and peace. What’s it like when our mind is cluttered? When our mind is cluttered with thoughts, fears, and anxieties? How do weContinue reading “How Do I Declutter My Mind?”
How Can Mindfulness Help When I’m in a Bad Mood?
We all get affected by bad moods from time to time. When we are in a bad mood, mindfulness can help us find some flexibility and choice, so we don’t have to feel completely at the mercy of our bad mood. How do we do it? Mindfulness is just noticing our experience. We can observeContinue reading “How Can Mindfulness Help When I’m in a Bad Mood?”
How Do I Stop Daydreaming During Meditation?
Daydreaming is a very common human mental activity. A large-scale study found that people spend 47% of their waking hours daydreaming! What is daydreaming? When we daydream, our mind is wandering into the past, future, or fantasy. Daydreaming is a way of escaping from the present moment. When we are daydreaming, we are not inContinue reading “How Do I Stop Daydreaming During Meditation?”
How is Mindfulness Related to Buddhism?
Mindfulness is ubiquitous these days. From healthcare and education to executive leadership, it is held up as a powerful practice that can help unlock the deep reservoirs of resilience and confidence that we all have inside. But what is mindfulness and where did it come from? “Mindfulness” is a term/technique extracted from Buddhism, which originatedContinue reading “How is Mindfulness Related to Buddhism?”
How Do I Work with Situations I Can’t Control?
There is probably nothing more stressful and scary than the feeling of not having control. Most of us have reacted in some way (anger, sadness, anxiety) when we felt that we did not have control over a situation, others, and/or ourselves. The need for control is so deeply conditioned within us that we may notContinue reading “How Do I Work with Situations I Can’t Control?”
How Do I Pay Attention?
“Attention” comes from the Latin word attendere, which means “to attend.” That is a big clue in terms of what it means for mindfulness practice! Mindfulness is simply paying attention to what’s happening right now. To pay attention to this moment means to attend this moment. What does it mean to “attend this moment?” Well,Continue reading “How Do I Pay Attention?”
How Do I Live in the Present?
Many people come to mindfulness practice because they want to learn how to live in the present more. The mindfulness technique is noticing when we are wrapped up in the future or the past, when our mind is caught up somewhere else, and then letting those thoughts go, and coming back to the present. TheContinue reading “How Do I Live in the Present?”
How Do I Find Peace?
I’ve heard many people say that they want to learn mindfulness meditation because they want to have some peace in their lives. How do we find peace, and what does mindfulness have to do with peace? Peace comes from the Latin word “pax” which means “tranquility, absence of war.” Our lives can be very busyContinue reading “How Do I Find Peace?”
Mindfulness FAQ 