“I can’t stop thinking!”

What are you doing at this very moment in time? It’s something we do every second of every day, but we sometimes take for granted.

You are breathing.

Chances are you’ve taken your attention towards your breath since you read the above and I’d bet that’s the first time you’ve done so in a while.

We take our breathing for granted. The one thing that gives us life and grounds us in the present moment, the here and now.

A second thing we take for granted is just how difficult it is to stop thinking. It’s almost impossible. Our minds race, day in and day out, from one thought to another and if we don’t stop to observe them and maybe challenge them every so often, they can get out of control. Most of your thoughts focus on the past, which we cannot change, and the future, which is not yet here.

Mindfulness combines both of the above. It focuses on your breath on the here and now, thereby grounding you, allowing you to take stock of your thoughts and emotions and to get some much needed calm, clarity and headspace.

The first time I heard about mindfulness was during my teacher training one weekday evening sitting at the back of a lecture hall in DCU. Tired, bored and cynical, I rolled my eyes as the lady at the top suggested mindfulness as a way to relieve the stresses of the job. So I understand why so many people immediately scoff at the idea, as ‘some kind of weird hippy stuff’. ‘Ah I’m not really into that kind of thing,’ you often hear when you suggest it. The reality, however, as I discovered that day, is it doesn’t entail heading to a temple on the top of a mountain, closing your eyes and humming with your legs crossed uncomfortably and your index fingers touching your thumbs. No, mindfulness, is simply that…being mindful. Focusing on your breath, in the present moment, here and now. I could get a lot deeper into how it came about but essentially the Buddha found that in life we continuously crave. If we feel bad about something, we crave to feel better. If we feel good about something, we crave more of it. Our thoughts are often based around these cravings. That’s highly simplified, but there’s much reading to be done on it. When you practice mindfulness, for a few minutes, you can step away from negative or stressful thoughts, relieve anxiety and realise that in the here and now, as you are presently, you are OK. Mindfulness can be done anywhere, anytime. In the car, before you set off, in your favourite chair at home, in your bed before you get up or before sleep or at work on your break! All you need is yourself, a comfortable seated position and your breath, which is always there. In fact , right now, focus in your breathing. Observe it going in and out. You are now being mindful.

Personally, the benefits for me have been huge. I find a marked difference between how I feel in times when I continuously meditate and times when I neglect it. I feel calm, focused, a clarity of mind and energised. My mind races less, I’m far less anxious and I don’t feel like my thoughts are all jumbled. I also sleep like a baby, which anybody who knows me will agree with! There are so many distractions nowadays, our brains are constantly wired to some kind of technology, and mindfulness meditation allows you to move back within your own body and mind so to speak!

So let’s give it a try right now…

Set aside five or ten minutes. (That’s all!)

Sit upright on a chair or on the ground. But BE COMFORTABLE!

Close your eyes and simply follow the sensation of your breathing as you inhale through your nostrils and out through your mouth. Observe this for a while.

As thoughts arise (which they will), acknowledge their presence, but don’t dwell. Just push them away and get back to the breath.

Bring your attention now to your senses…what you feel and hear especially. Notice them, acknowledge them, but don’t dwell. Continue to breathe now, allowing the abdomen to expand a little more as you breathe, noticing the sensation of each inhale and exhale.

Once you feel grounded and relaxed and ‘inside your body’ start to focus on each part of your body from your toes all the way to the top of your head, breathing as you do so. The best way to explain this is…imagine for a second you do not have a thumb… automatically your attention is now on your thumb isn’t it? Bring your attention to each part of your body like this and keep breathing and pushing away those thoughts as you do so.

Keep breathing, push away those thoughts and fully engage your senses.

Continue as long as you want. Afterwards, you should feel less tension in the body and more grounded in the present moment.

The Challenges

‘I don’t get anything our of it’. A lot of people give up after the first time they have tried. You’re not going to gain some kind of immediate enlightenment. But the long term benefits are there. It becomes second nature. You tune into your breath automatically in moments of quiet or stress or before bed or when just waiting around in a queue. It’s called practicing mindfulness for a reason. Think of learning an instrument or learning how drive at first. It’s difficult when you begin, but when you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

‘I don’t have time’ As well as this, people often say they don’t have time. If you don’t have five or ten minutes in your day to look after your mental well-being and sir and breathe then something needs to change. We exercise our bodies regularly so why not our minds? Remember to treat your mental health as you do your physical health and make the same amount of time for it!

‘I can’t stop thinking’ . Exactly. This is why you need to stick at it. Occasionally you’ll get those moments where you realise you’ve had a completely blank gap between thoughts and you’re just there in the here and now, and that feels remarkably pleasant.

Give it a try for a week! Ten minutes a day. Just sit… and breathe. Enjoy!