I often stress mindfulness and meditation, whether when I’m blogging or talking to people. But truly, they’re both very important. By no means am I a meditation or mindfulness master, but I know I’m on my way to perfecting my practice. For beginners of Buddhism or the practice of mindfulness, it’s easier to start with it during meditation. Practicing Anapanasati or Vipassana meditation is encouraged, even if you’re experienced. When meditating, especially with Vipassana, or if you’re just doing walking meditation, be aware of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.
It’s understandable that it’s extremely difficult to be mindful of everything we do in our daily, busy, hectic lives. The trick is to at least be aware of mindfulness. You probably won’t be noting every little thing you do like lifting, pushing, writing, pouring coffee, drinking, talking, sighing, opening/closing doors, or even breathing! You’d have to be extremely skilled to be able to be mindful and note of every movement, action, thought, and breath. It’s almost impossible. However, what you can do is at least be mindful of the basic; walking, drinking, eating, moving, and when you can, breathing. You’ll get plenty of distractions throughout the day, but whenever you can remind yourself to be mindful, be mindful. Eventually with practice, you’ll be able to be more mindful with more things.
Mindfulness in meditation is extremely important. Vipassana meditation can lead you to liberation! Like everyday mindfulness, mindfulness in meditation takes time, effort, and lots of practice. Even when we’re trying to be very attentive to mindfulness of breathing, or the rise and fall of the abdomen, thoughts emerge and cause distractions, and it’s so easy to not even notice them, but it’s important that we do and note them! I’ve been practicing meditation for over a decade, and it takes me about 5-10 minutes of mindfulness to find a calm mind. It’s easy to be noting “rising, falling, rising, falling” or counting “1, 1. 2, 2. 3, 3,” or however you practice mindfulness of breath. But then all of a sudden a thought arises but you’re unaware of it, it takes a few seconds before you realize it, but when you do it’s important to note it “thinking, thinking” and not just let it go. Because if you don’t note it, it’ll keep coming back and you’ll realize it even less more and more. The same applies to mental/emotional feelings (anger, jealousy, etc.) and bodily feelings (pain, discomfort, soreness, etc.). Note and be mindful of as much as you can!
Smile and be well!