Practicing Mindfulness

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

I am sure that this has happened to you too - you are given a task, you ask “why do you need this?”, They tell you, and you immediately come up with a simple solution that brings results much more efficiently than the task at hand. I'm sure everyone has had this!

I am sure that each of you, at least a couple of times in your life, caught yourself doing some kind of task automatically, without really thinking about it. It happens that your thoughts are in the clouds, and you peel potatoes with your hands …

Unknowingly, we have learned:

1. Work
2. Communicate
3. Ride in transport
4. There is
5. Spending time with children and family
6. …

In short, do almost everything.

Why do we do this?

1. Tired. When you don't get enough sleep, it is difficult to concentrate and you start to doze, dream …
2. Didn't eat / overeat. Everything is clear here. When you overeat, you want to sleep, when you do not eat, you want to eat, and all thoughts are only about food.
3. We are not interested in the taskwe do.
4. Results are not important to us.
5. The habit of doing unknowingly.

This automatic approach to routine tasks also has a very reasonable positive basis. With this unconscious approach, the brain conserves its resources. Imagine if you thought about your every action, every step, every movement, every breath. It would be extremely unusual, it would take a whole bunch of computing power. And so the brain, based on previous experience, knows what needs to be done and what the result will be, and simply automates this activity.

And, it would seem, everything is fine, but sometimes you can overdo it in automation.

I think that the first problem of unconscious actions lies in the fact that you seem to stop living in the present moment - you are constantly immersed in thoughts about the past, the future, expectations, experiences, fears, but you do not live in the present. When you do work, you think about dinner, when you eat dinner, you think about vacation, on vacation you worry about a promotion, etc. But do not forget that life exists only in this particular moment, in this particular second, and it would be nice to learn to be aware of this.

A the second problem of unconscious actions is that, doing something unconsciously, you always get the same result, often not the best. This is the essence of optimization: you do the same thing automatically, you get the same thing.

I see this very well in the process of work: you set a task to someone, and he went to rivet it according to the knurled pattern, not even interested in what goal I am pursuing with this task. But if you think about “what kind of result does my boss want to get? what is the goal he pursues? , then you can come up with a bunch of options as it is much easier to achieve the final goal.

I am sure that this has happened to you too - you are given a task, you ask “why do you need this?”, They tell you, and you immediately come up with a simple solution that brings results much more efficiently than the task at hand. I'm sure everyone has had this!

And you just need to consciously approach the task, find yourself in the current moment and in current activities, start asking questions.

Oh yes, I almost forgot cool example of people walking down the street like zombies, immersed in their thoughts, and do not even notice how beautiful flowers bloom and birds chirp around. Such a picture of post-apocalypse, which can be observed every morning and every evening everywhere.

“Why am I going somewhere in the morning? Can I go to work at other times? Why am I working in this particular place? Do I like the work that I do? Where is my life going and what is its purpose? " Such questions are asked by the mind, which is aware of its every action. The unconscious mind does not ask questions - it is waiting for "paycheck" and beer:)

So how start to train mindfulness? Several variants:

1. Meditation. In the practice of any meditation there is a stage of concentration, with the help of which we, in fact, teach the brain to be in the present moment. If you practice meditation systematically, then the ability to be in the moment will become a habit.
2. Constant self-control … You can set up an alarm clock or some program on your computer so that it looms for us, and at this time we will catch ourselves with the questions “what am I doing? Is this the best course of action? can it be done easier / faster / better?"
3. Daily evening analysis … I have already written about my daily analysis system. It is also ideal for improving mindfulness of actions.
4. Any other option, which you yourself come up with.

By the way, it seems to me (but I could be wrong) that creativity and creativity, to some extent, depend on the awareness of actions. It is hardly possible to create “on the machine”.

I would be glad to hear your opinion, criticism and feedback.