I have had the privilege to attend a mindfulness conference this year and I thought I should share a few beautiful words that touched my heart. “Turning Towards The Lovely.” Whatever lifts your spirit, and gives you purpose while you’re passionate about it, is your lovely. This is important because what we align the mind towards, we feel.

Where do you go for your lovely? For me, turning towards the lovely is watering my plants, going for those power walks, bonding with my parrot, Ben, having long and heartfelt conversations with my children, reading a good book while enjoying my delicious divine cup of tea. There are so many things that are lovely in our daily lives if only we can pay attention and live in the moment. As the saying goes: “So much to be grateful for in every moment of every day.”

It is not just the content we turn to, but the intention behind our actions such as taking time to notice the little moments in life. We all should develop a habit of turning to something that is lovely. Resource ourselves with something simple, do the little things that nourish us internally. This is Mindfulness in practice. “To be with things as they are, where we are.” The awareness that arises when we pay attention with more compassion, without judgment, a form of mental training that harnesses awareness of the thoughts and the stories the mind generates. This facilitates shifting attention from these to what’s actually occurring right in front of us in real time.

We can train our minds to notice which of our thoughts are helpful and those that are not. Paying attention to our state of mind, reminding ourselves that we are safe and centered. Mindfulness helps us put things in perspective. As human beings, thousands of thoughts cross our minds. Normally, we would do away with these thoughts, ignore them, even go to an extent of harshly judging and condemning ourselves for these mental stories. “I’m evil for having this thought. I’m terrible.”

This is where mindfulness plays a role of healing; you not only acknowledge every thought that crosses your mind positive or negative, you also do so with kindness and compassion. As you allow the thoughts and feelings and observe them, you are in control. You have power over the thoughts and feelings not the other way around. When we are mindful, we are aware of our reactions, and we have a choice on how we react to situations arising at any given time; we are in control of our reactions. And as the mindfulness muscle grows, you learn to self-regulate. “I have got this. I’m in control”.

What is important is being able to take note of a feeling, a thought as it is felt and crosses your mind in real time. Mindfulness starts with you, the self, then spreads to others. Self-love, care, kindness, and compassion, all these values automatically create empathy. We are able to relate to others, have healthy relationships and boundaries, and be able to understand, and even listen to other perspectives with no judgment, keeping an open mind.

Why mindfulness?

We explore mindfulness for both our own well -being and the well- being of other people, because we are all connected, and this sense is most emphasized in the here and now as we become present. Can you imagine a world where we are all present in everything we do? This would promote peace, utmost focus, bring about precision, heightens our performance and minimizes worrying about things in advance. “Worrying is a side effect of death.”- The Fault in Our Stars. Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment. Be here now. Wishing you all a super productive, happy and safe Friday.