Happy Birthday to Me! The Miracle of Life!

Lately, I’ve been reading about mindfulness. I’m realizing at 31 (today is my birthday), that mindfulness and mental health are SO important. If you got your happiness on the inside, then you’ve got happiness on the outside, as I said in a previous blog post. On a side note, today is the coldest day of the year, -25 degrees F, and my flight just got cancelled. I’ve got to find some peace and acceptance on that. Anyway, back to the main point. Now, I’ve been pondering over my existence, and realizing that I’m much bigger part of a large existence than myself. That gives me peace, and realization that the miracle of life is a beautiful thing. Enjoy the poem below.

Life’s Miracle
In the galaxy, stars burst and grow
Black holes disappear and reappear
Earth revolves around the sun another day
The sun shines a beautiful bright ray
Snow lays on the ground, like a beautiful gloss tray
When you step back, take a look at it
Isn’t it so beautiful? Today and every day?
Existence as it may.
Nature as you see it.
Thousands of tiny particles, just the right conditions
Formed the beautiful earth we live in
Coincidences, bumping into each other
You better believe it.
Then thousands of minute decisions
That led to my creation
I’m grateful to be here
Alive in the greater universe I’m in
Part of this world so much bigger than I am
Stepping back and being grateful today
By taking a deep breath and celebrating the miracles of life today.
Instead of looking for a miracle, I’m creating one everyday
With gratitude and a sense of peace to believe
That my story is a miracle in itself
Because Life’s a Miracle.

Mindfulness

Namaste All!

Do you all know what mindfulness is? According to Cambridge Dictionary, it is defined as the following: “The practice of being aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment, thought to create a feeling of calm.”  When I first heard about mindfulness from friends and family, who recommended I meditate, I thought it was a bunch of baloney.  I tried it a few times and found my meditation practices and I felt frustrated, because I felt more stressed out with my to-do list than relaxed from meditation.

Then in therapy, one day I asked, how to remain happy, eternally. What are the tools and strategies to remain happy? He said to meditate, and he said it’s a state of dissociating from your subconscious from your conscious mind. I felt frustrated again. However, when he explained the principles again, I thought I’d try it again, and it really struck a chord for me then.

I’ve been practicing meditating 5 minutes a day in a quiet room with no sound and my eyes closed. These are the principles I’ve been following per my therapist:

-     Observe
-     Describe
-   Participate
- Non Judgment
-     One Mindfully

When I’m meditating, I’m observing my breath and how my body is feeling in the present moment. I also observe if I’m thinking about something besides focusing on my breath like things I have to do, and I’m describing that in my mind. I participate in the moment by allowing myself to be completely lost in the moment. I also don’t judge myself if my minder wanders as I’m focusing on my breadth. I do this one-mindfully, meaning that I focus on my objective of paying attention to my breathing and how my mind is separating from my body.

I plan on increasing my meditation process from 5-10-15 minutes a day and onward, as I get better and better at this exercise.

Thoughts? I’m new to this! Let me know what you think!

Also, now that you’ve learned about mindfulness, how cute are my leggings? I’ve been wearing them around the house and for stretching exercises! They are from a company called JoriKi, and they focus on giving a portion of their sales to different organizations. For the leggings that I have, they give a portion of their sales to SPINNA. This organization brings traditional skills mainstream to empower women working in fashion. I just love their message and their leggings! My leggings are linked!