By Rajgopal Nidamboor
When you practice mindfulness — being in sync with the universe — you'll begin to see problems as they are, not what you have, till now, imagined them to be. Not that mindfulness will take you on a fascinating journey where difficult situations disappear at the proverbial drop of a thought. Far from it. Rather, it is a state of being that provides you with the basic essentials to dealing with stress in a more positive, constructive manner.
You don’t have to be a Zen master to learn mindfulness. All you have to do is deal with situations — for example, choose what you’d most likely do in a given context. Next? Accept the rewards by responding in the most mindful manner. Your own. This will be your ‘pitch’ to turning boring schedules into rich experiences. It will also, in the process, help you work, concentrate on the sights, sounds, and smells around you.
Once you are through, just close your eyes. Breathe deeply and ‘go’ with what you are feeling. As you scan your body, you’ll feel more relaxed, focused, and ready to get back to work.
To make mindfulness (smriti, in Sanskrit) work better for you, ‘zero-in’ on your entire body, every muscle, including every cell within. Stay focused, perceive how your breath accelerates, your joints relax, and your muscles tighten. It all works on a simple premise — when you ‘read’ your body’s signals, you will embrace a calm, peaceful expanse from the inside out.
Rajgopal Nidamboor, PhD, is a wellness physician-writer-editor, independent researcher, columnist, author, and publisher. His published work includes hundreds of newspaper, magazine, Web articles, essays, meditations, columns, and critiques on a host of subjects, aside from four books on natural health, two coffee table tomes, a handful of eBooks, and an encyclopedic treatise on Indian philosophy. He calls himself an irrepressible idealist. What he likes best is spending quality time with his family and close friends, and in reading, writing, listening to music, watching cricket/old movies, and mindful meditation. He lives in Navi Mumbai, India.
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