Mindfulness and Living in the Present Moment Helps to Free Us from Stress

“You are free to be here.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness provides the means to come the present moment so we can detach from the noise in the world, experience some nurturing stillness as well as to release the suffering that focusing on past and future trigger in us. When we usher ourselves into present moment awareness it becomes possible to acknowledge and be present with deeper emotions in order to be able to heal and release them. In times of turmoil we have the opportunity to release and heal which not only helps us but also makes it possible to be kinder and more compassionate with others, something which is in short supply nowadays but very necessary if we are to move forward.

Mindfulness helps to acknowledge our shadow, our humanity, and moves us to higher ground
Being present in the moment is not about denying or avoiding any part of our selves. We all have negative thoughts, negative feelings, beliefs, prejudices, judgments as well as a lack of surrender, gratitude and forgiveness within us at some time. It is all part of the human journey. Mindfulness and being present in the NOW– done honestly– lets us embrace all of our parts in order to see how our minds are working that cause pain and suffering and make it possible for the deeper richer qualities inherent in human being to arise.

Acknowledging our emotions does not make us crazy and dysfunctional…..it is the denial and other dysfunctional defenses we engage in that tip us over the edge. Our nervous systems are not equipped to handle unrelenting stress and stuffing of emotion and denial of our reality.

Mindfulness aids in eliminating spiritual bypassing
Spiritual bypassing is just as rampant as the defenses of denial and avoidance. Actually spiritual bypassing could be thought of a cleaned up version of those dysfunctional defenses. We are human. We have nasty feelings, flaws and failings. We have a shadow—a handy compartment where we store all that we do not want to own. We must compassionately embrace/own that shadow–find out what it wants/needs (truly, not a superficial version) and then we may be on the road to living in this world with true freedom, health, happiness and harmony.

Mindfulness helps heal the personal and contributes to the universal
Can we really have understanding, tolerance and compassion for others before we sincerely have it within for ourselves? It may be challenging to clear our dysfunctional patterns but it is worth it for our own sanity as well as to contribute positively to the field of energy we all live in.