Mindfulness: Training Your Brain to Be More Present

This mindfulness post is sponsored by ASK Productions, Inc. All opinions on the book are my own. 

Mindfulness and Being Present

What is “mindfulness”? It’s a word that is trending right now, and for good reason! In short, mindfulness is a form of positive thinking. It is being aware in the moment. I have brought up mindfulness and many of the thought processes that go with it on my Instagram. However,  I have yet to dive deep into the movement on my blog. Since it has been a topic I have been exploring in my life for the past two years, I decided it is time to talk about it with YOU!

My journey of changing my thought patterns started when I went to a teacher seminar. We listened to a fellow teacher from the district talk about his practice of becoming more aware of his surroundings. He truly enjoys life for what it is in the present moment. He led us through a 5-minute meditation; focusing on what thoughts were coming into our head. We were asked to push out the thoughts from the past and the future and only welcome present ones.

After, I left the classroom a changed woman! I felt like my cup was full after a long drought of missing something. Throughout the day, I reflected on what it meant to me as a teacher to be more present and what it meant for my students (who are growing up in such a fast-paced era).

Creating Habits

In the beginning, what I liked about it was that there was science to back it up! We have all heard the age-old saying that, “a habit takes 21-days to form.” While this was deemed true in the past, more recent studies have found that it really varies with each person! One thing is for sure: habits — good or bad — form after repetition! The reasoning behind this: our brain creates neural pathways for brain signals to travel from one part of the nervous system to another. Creating a pathway is similar to paving a road. The more times that the brain is required to travel a pathway, the deeper engrained and the smoother the ride for the information to travel. Creating a new behavior is a matter of doing something so much that the brain becomes at ease when doing it. The greatest part of this is that we can retrain our brain to think positively!

A Book That Can Help

As a result, I started reading Being Here…Too by Ariel and Shya Kane and felt the same sense of motivation to change my attitude in life. The book consists of short stories collected from people around the world as they realize what brings them happiness in life. Aaron from Boulder, Colorado says, “I have learned that enlightenment is not a destination or something that’s achieved, but rather, it’s a moment-to-moment lifestyle. Enlightenment is possible, right here, right now, in each moment” (Kane 18). The personal anecdotes from the collection provide meaning and insight in what “being present” is. It shows humans discovering the sense of fulfillment they get the instant they realize that happiness comes from a conscious effort of “being here”.

Furthermore, the book Being Here…Too is one I plan to keep around and read time and time again. It’s a great reminder that miracles happen when you’re willing to look at your life from a grateful perspective. With our crazy, busy lives and ever-changing world, it feels like a time for the mindfulness movement to take center stage. We need to, collectively, become more involved in our day-to-day activities. It’s time to be present, and exist in every moment that is given to us. Enlightenment comes to those that are willing to look for happiness in the small things.