What is mindfulness anyway? It is the practice of moment to moment awareness without judgement. It is it the practice of being present with an open mind, exhibiting kindness to the self and acceptance of what will be. Its about practice.
Why does it take so much time?
You need to retrain your brain to get on-line with what you are doing, this can be slow at first. You need to learn the different ways you might apply mindfulness or the areas of your life where it is needed. Most beginners start by “setting a timer” to breath or focus on a single object, then learn to incorporate different types of practices. These practices begin to fill in some of the cracks in your life, and eventually you no longer need to “set up” to have an experience.
Lets look at mindful eating. At the start it might be helpful to put some structure into this. You might turn off the TV/devices, sit down at a table and eat slowly, putting down your fork between bites or taking a sip of water. Some make note of individual flavors or the texture with the aim to consciously make eating an “experience”. Will this take more time than plowing through a sandwich standing at your kitchen counter? Yes it will. After you have made eating mindfully a practice, you might notice that it has become more of a pleasant ritual instead of a necessary task. You will likely eat less and enjoy more, will digest better and enjoy your surroundings or the company of the people you eat with (some teenagers excluded). And as a side note, your concern over how long this process will take will probably fade away, cool right?
Who really does this?
Lots of people, including me, and the numbers are growing. Stress was starting to show its wear and tear in my life. My brain didn’t work, I was cranky, tired, my weight was up, and my threshold for difficult life situations got alarming small. Remember the cracks in your life I mentioned earlier, well how do you think they get there? Stress anyone? It took some time to learn all the ways Mindfulness could be applied, like a soothing balm on chapped skin. After trying different practices and setting timers, I am finally in a place where mindfulness is happening freestyle! If I only have 8 minutes to meditate, that’s how long I do it for. Most days my evening meal is the only one that really get’s the mindful attention that it needs (even with the teenagers). I don’t set a timer to breathe, I sit and take a few minutes to feel how my inhale/exhale feel and then move on to my next task if that’s all the time allows.
When will I be good at this?
Don’t put a finish line on it, enjoy the process, and take in the experiences. There are practices that will benefit certain areas of your life or health, learning what and how to do them is essential. As I have travelled this path, I have realized there is so much left to learn, with consistent personal practice, I can work on the areas that make sense for me and change the focus when needed. You can too. You will know you are good at it when you start to feel healthier, calm and more focused.
There are what I call some One Sheets on the site that can help you get started. Feel free to download /print them and give them a try. Take as long as you like, the time is yours. And while you are at it, take a breath, enjoy the process, you are worth it.