Moments, Menus and Mindsets
Heading into the 10 Day Mindful Eating Challenge this week in the Namast'ay Community online and I couldn't be more excited!
Mindfulness has changed my life; and I know from all the research I have consumed over the passed three years in this practice; that 80% of successful people have a mindfulness practice... there's definitely something to it!
But what?
First 'what' is; what is mindfulness really? Jon Kabat Zinn defined it as; a particular way of paying attention, on purpose, in the moment and without judgement... he had me at without judgement!
When I first began my mindfulness journey I was in a place in my life where I was so damned ready to let go of judgement; of myself, of my family, of every damn thing, every damn day! I was so stuck in a fixed mindset that I was going nowhere; and I was doing it at record speeds of stress and anxiety!
As someone whose Energetic Therapist coined her sarcasm as 'Epic Superpower' you can bet I was as hard on myself, as I was on everything, and everyone around me; I got lots of laughs, quite a few raised eyebrows, and I was miserable!
I remember thinking I really don't have time for all this 'observing' and sitting in moments, I wasn't one of 'those' people, I had things to get done! I stuck with it none the less, and I whined and moaned in my journal about how ridiculous it all seemed; until it didn't!
Just over two years ago, about a year into my whining and moaning over mindfulness practices, we were called to the hospital where our 26 year old daughter was on life support after her uterus had ruptured during a miscarriage, a freak occurrence, thankfully she called 911 because her pain was so intense and was rescued from her apartment by paramedics just before the internal bleeding caused her heart to stop... for 18 minutes medical staff worked tirelessly to bring her back, and were successful; and in that moment when the doctor was describing what had happened, I was present, so completely in that excruciating moment; and I was grateful, and mindfulness made sense... real sense in a practical and breath taking way; and I never looked back - neither did Jessica, she's doing great!
What still to this day strikes me; is how hard up side the head people have to be struck in order to change! I have always considered myself to be of better than average intelligence, with a reasonable skill set to be successful, how then was I so stuck? I've seen countless quotes and memes all over the internet about change coming only when we are ready to let go of the bullshit story we are telling ourselves, when we are tired of our own crap, and I believe that to be true! I was so tired of being tough, of wearing the armour of sarcasm and being afraid of being judged, I was ready to change my life, and in that moment I believed I could, and I did!
It was like winning a lottery, the freedom I felt just allowing myself to be, to not only say what I was feeling, but to actually let myself feel it, I ugly cried and didn't care who saw! My perspective shifted, and the sheer magnitude of 'this too shall pass' struck me; life was passing, and I wasn't living! I was going through the motions, and doing all the 'right' things, the things that let me fly under that radar and kept me safe... but I wasn't safe, no body is; life can and will happen; and it ain't always pretty!
These next 10 days aren't going to be quite as earth shattering as my turning point in the mindfulness arena; but I hope they will set you on a course that will expand to every corner of your life! As a Nutrition and Wellness Coach I chose eating as a starting point because it has real and tangible levels of measurement when we are mindful there; and in order for us to wrap our mind around something, those measurements are crucial!
We all know that eating well and exercise are part of being healthy, but knowing isn't enough, we have to DO; and doing what's right requires the active participation of our mind! Mindfulness is like a workout for your brain, the more you work it out the stronger it becomes, the stronger it becomes the less likely you are to fall prey to cravings, and negativity!
Our menu for the next 10 days consists of patience, and heaping helpings of self awareness! No dietary changes are required, just you, and your everyday nutritional choices... we are observing, and learning, not judging!
That growth mindset that we need to thrive; is waiting for us; in our understanding and belief that we can change; that there is no failure, only learning; and in embracing that we have the ability to learn new ways of doing old things! Turning what we know into what we do.. that's the magic right there!
Mindfulness has changed my life; and I know from all the research I have consumed over the passed three years in this practice; that 80% of successful people have a mindfulness practice... there's definitely something to it!
But what?
First 'what' is; what is mindfulness really? Jon Kabat Zinn defined it as; a particular way of paying attention, on purpose, in the moment and without judgement... he had me at without judgement!
When I first began my mindfulness journey I was in a place in my life where I was so damned ready to let go of judgement; of myself, of my family, of every damn thing, every damn day! I was so stuck in a fixed mindset that I was going nowhere; and I was doing it at record speeds of stress and anxiety!
As someone whose Energetic Therapist coined her sarcasm as 'Epic Superpower' you can bet I was as hard on myself, as I was on everything, and everyone around me; I got lots of laughs, quite a few raised eyebrows, and I was miserable!
I remember thinking I really don't have time for all this 'observing' and sitting in moments, I wasn't one of 'those' people, I had things to get done! I stuck with it none the less, and I whined and moaned in my journal about how ridiculous it all seemed; until it didn't!
Just over two years ago, about a year into my whining and moaning over mindfulness practices, we were called to the hospital where our 26 year old daughter was on life support after her uterus had ruptured during a miscarriage, a freak occurrence, thankfully she called 911 because her pain was so intense and was rescued from her apartment by paramedics just before the internal bleeding caused her heart to stop... for 18 minutes medical staff worked tirelessly to bring her back, and were successful; and in that moment when the doctor was describing what had happened, I was present, so completely in that excruciating moment; and I was grateful, and mindfulness made sense... real sense in a practical and breath taking way; and I never looked back - neither did Jessica, she's doing great!
What still to this day strikes me; is how hard up side the head people have to be struck in order to change! I have always considered myself to be of better than average intelligence, with a reasonable skill set to be successful, how then was I so stuck? I've seen countless quotes and memes all over the internet about change coming only when we are ready to let go of the bullshit story we are telling ourselves, when we are tired of our own crap, and I believe that to be true! I was so tired of being tough, of wearing the armour of sarcasm and being afraid of being judged, I was ready to change my life, and in that moment I believed I could, and I did!
It was like winning a lottery, the freedom I felt just allowing myself to be, to not only say what I was feeling, but to actually let myself feel it, I ugly cried and didn't care who saw! My perspective shifted, and the sheer magnitude of 'this too shall pass' struck me; life was passing, and I wasn't living! I was going through the motions, and doing all the 'right' things, the things that let me fly under that radar and kept me safe... but I wasn't safe, no body is; life can and will happen; and it ain't always pretty!
We all know that eating well and exercise are part of being healthy, but knowing isn't enough, we have to DO; and doing what's right requires the active participation of our mind! Mindfulness is like a workout for your brain, the more you work it out the stronger it becomes, the stronger it becomes the less likely you are to fall prey to cravings, and negativity!
Our menu for the next 10 days consists of patience, and heaping helpings of self awareness! No dietary changes are required, just you, and your everyday nutritional choices... we are observing, and learning, not judging!
That growth mindset that we need to thrive; is waiting for us; in our understanding and belief that we can change; that there is no failure, only learning; and in embracing that we have the ability to learn new ways of doing old things! Turning what we know into what we do.. that's the magic right there!
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