Imagine a world in which there is no right or wrong. Everything that happens is fine. You are there just to look at what is happening. Curiously. It may be that in this world there are pleasant things and less pleasant things. Thoughts, feelings that can be calm or noisy. But it does not matter because all your purpose in this world is just to pay attention.
This world is the world of mindfulness. The whole essence of practice is to know to pay attention to what is going on inside. There is no such thing I have succeeded or failed in this world. The whole essence is to observe, to pay attention, to learn to look at what is happening.
Without cataloging what is happening, without calling it by the names of good or bad.
And bring tenderness to this observation, tenderness as one brings to a sweet baby or to a puppy. It is the kind of tenderness we want to bring to ourselves, to our contemplation into ourselves.
"It's not supposed to be that way," there is no such thing in the mindfulness world. The is no should or should not be, only curiosity and the ability to observe remains. These are the abilities that one wants to express and improve when practicing mindfulness.
In the real world, which is not the world of mindfulness, the reality is that we think, feel and conduct ourselves out of a certain automaton. We do not pay attention to our automaton, and we miss a lot, even the possibility of making a change.
The first goal of mindfulness practice is to start exploring how we work, how our system works, how thoughts and emotions float automatically. If we shake it for a moment we can begin to see the automation and understand how it drives us.
What things can be thought of that we do automatically? Brushing your teeth is a good example. Eat, dress, shower, wash dishes… All the most basic and everyday things we do on a vending machine. This leads us to think that yes, these are everyday actions and there is no reason why they should not be automatic! These are things we are used to… but even the most basic, everyday actions can be done in mindfulness, that is, pay attention to what is being done.
In the same way we think automatically, judge automatically, give ourselves scores automatically, make comparisons automatically. These are the things that are already more affecting our thoughts, our emotions, our minds. These are the things we want to start recognizing, pay attention to when the automaton appears. Because it affects our quality of life.
It is easier to start with the simple everyday actions, to train ourselves to pay attention to the automation, to recognize it, and from there to develop the ability for the more challenging issues of life as well. We want to practice identifying.
One way to practice is to practice "body scanning" - to train your attention to be in the present. Through the body. Thoughts constantly take us to the past or to the future, the body is constantly in the present. The body is always here. It does not go to the past or future as the thoughts therefore draw attention to the body. The body will remind us to recognize, it will remind us to pay attention.
If you want to start practicing body scanning, and thus start developing the ability to recognize your automation, it will be an amazing journey. Practice for a week for 15 minutes a day "Body Scan" meditation on YouTube I do it with "Amos Avishar Muda Center".
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