Mindfulness Therapy
What is mindfulness?
Let go of your preconceived notions of mindfulness. People often think that mindfulness is just about breathing exercises, meditation, or yoga. While those can certainly be part of a mindfulness practice, mindfulness as a tool for your life is so much bigger than that. It is important to understand the connection between a mindfulness practice and how that practice leads to living a more mindful life. We practice mindfulness so that we can have more awareness in each moment and more clearly see what each moment has to offer. Without awareness, we can live in automatic and only see what confirms our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. Mindfulness as a tool is about learning to live life more purposefully and with intention, while accepting reality as it is.
It is from practicing mindfulness that you build a “muscle” to use in life when you really need it. If you are used to living in automatic, you may continue to perceive yourself as having very little control in life and as if you never get what you need to have a life worth living. But really, nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that we all get a mixed bag in life, from exciting, to mundane, to disappointment or despair. Mindfulness gives you the skill to perceive life more accurately and then really see the opportunities you have in life to make choices that will lead you in a more fulfilling direction.
A mantra to live by is that we can never control as many things in life as we want, but we can control more things in life than we realize. Mindfulness helps you see reality as it is and the range of choices that you actually have and can control. With greater vision and understanding of yourself and life, mindfulness teaches you how to collaborate with life instead of feeling like you are always fighting your way through.
Mindfulness takes bravery and courage. Together we can help you find a way to embrace reality, while also striving for your hopes and dreams.
Live with Purpose. Be True to Yourself.
Practice Mindfulness to Know Yourself
Having a more meaningful life isn’t about using your energy to avoid the storms but, rather, navigating them with more precision. There’s always going to be difficulties in life such as death, grief, and other external stressors. Mindfulness gives you the space to be in tune with your authentic self and build emotional resilience so you can feel more secure going forward in life, even when you can’t control everything going on. And acceptance is a big part of this. Practicing mindfulness helps you build the other muscle of acceptance. We often get stuck with resisting aspects of reality. And I get it! Why would we want to accept things in life that feel unfair and painful? The truth is that when we fight reality, we are really fighting ourselves and keeping ourselves stuck. By learning to accept (not approve) reality, we shift from a dead-end road to one that has options.
And one of the greatest consequences that come from being more mindful is the relationship you can develop with yourself. Although we live with ourselves every day, we often live our lives without really knowing who we are. It is hard to build a meaningful life and one that feels worth living if we remain mostly disconnected inside. Mindfulness gives us the space to examine the parts of ourselves that we avoid, dislike, or even reject. It helps you explore the internal “terrain” of your mind and better understand how your own reactions to yourself are holding you back. It can also help you make peace with what you find, accept yourself as you are, and navigate your life so that you stay on track and continue moving in the direction of your goals. And you may even find a place for self-compassion and self-love along the way.
