Guess what’s top of my mind these days? No prizes for guessing it is indeed the simple act of mindfulness. Thanks to a wonderful blogger friend, Shinjini a.k.a Modern Gypsy’s forthright long challenge on Instagram called The Mindful Break , I’ve suddenly been awakened from my reverie of “mindless” living, to one of mindfulness. Having said that, I’ve not been living “mindlessly” forever.  The last few months have been a roller coaster ride and I have forgotten what it feels like to not scheme and plan the next moment, or wallow in pity at the “not-so-good-ones” that went by.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.- Buddha Share on X

Mindful Living:

One of my favourite  blogger, Corinne’s theme for #TheMindfulBreak is:

“Be Present, Not Perfect”

Having read that quote that appeared several times this forthright on my timeline, has given rise to an epiphany of sorts. It is hard for a Virgo to not be perfect, and when I read Corinne’s Instagram posts with this quote, I rubbed my hands in glee, and said to myself, “Yes, yes, yes this is it! Just what I  needed to hear for years.” And it is not plain coincidence, but synchronicity that these posts from Corinne keep showing up on my news feed; as a reminder, a sign, a good luck omen of sorts.

Guess it is time to assimilate the practise of mindfulness. After all who knows better than me, that striving for over perfection just creates further angst and pain. What really works is doing the best one can and flowing with the process of life, thereby creating a meaningful and tranquil environment.

At Books and Beyond, my book club meeting; a dear member shared how the practise of mindfulness had changed her life. How she has conversations with trees and tunes into their answers. On how she can now read people’s thoughts to a great extent.

Mindful Eating :

More recently, I’ve been experimenting with mindful eating. I have restricted the portions, focused on eating plant-based food like leafy greens, coloured fruits and vegetables, vis-a-vis animal products. When I tuned into to my body and listened to it, I realised  even though the homemade butter chicken tasted delicious, my body was not accepting it happily and was in some ways rejecting it. But I continued to eat. Mind over matter I guess.

But the thing is, on the hindsight, I could tune into my body’s needs, during the process of eating itself. Incredible isn’t it?! Maybe more so for me, as I’m a foodie, and have never so much so paid heed to my body’s inner voice when it comes to food.

Yes, mindfulness isn’t difficult; we just have to be mindful enough to remember, to be so.

I loved reading Seema Misra’s blog post, It’s Ok to Hibernate, for some grounding techniques which helped me in the mindfulness practise, as well.

Are you joining me in living a mindful life? Or are you already on an onward journey of mindful living? How do you practise mindfulness? What do you do to overcome mindlessness? What changes has mindfulness brought about in your life? Would love to hear from you. Do share your thoughts so we can learn from each other, one moment at a time.

**********************************

Linking up with Corinne and Mel for #MondayMusings and #MicroblogMondays