M for Mindfulness

It was a lovely Sunday morning. Sita was playing with her 3-year-old in the society garden rather caught up on her phone with a phone call. Suddenly her daughter called her out “ Mumma …. look… “… Sita just glanced through the corner of the eye, smiled and got back on her phone. Riya frowned for a moment .. but got busy playing again.

A little later Sita realized that her daughter who was petrified of the swing earlier was swaying away with the wind with a wide smile on her face.

This happens to us many times isn’t it? In this constant race and competition we miss out on the most precious moments in our life. We women are known to be born multitaskers and as a woman I am proud of that fact. But with our tendency to prove ourselves to the world… are we missing something?

The answer is Yes. What we are missing is the present moment. With ourselves, our loved ones. By the time Sita got off her phone she missed the moment of happiness on her child’s face.

In this chaotic world .. we take pride in being constantly busy. There is nothing wrong in being busy and productive … but how much this time do we remember? I remember those times in my childhood when I used to play with my friends . I still remember the first time we friends celebrated our doll’s birthday. Those moments were full of happiness, innocence and fun. The question is why do you remember your childhood memories and want to relive them again? The answer is simple … because “we lived the moment fully”.

Can we live our life fully and make it happy and joyful while making golden memories? The answer is yes.

Let me explain how with another story.

Once upon a time Buddha was travelling with his disciples. They reached a village which had a huge river flowing nearby. Buddha and his disciples rested under a tree . While Buddha was giving sermons he

asked one of his disciples to fetch some water . His disciple quickly ran to fetch some water but was disappointed to see that the water was muddy . “This water isn’t fit for my master” ..he thought. He came back as said that the water wasn’t good enough to drink. Buddha smiled and asked him to be seated and he continued with his sermons. After some time Buddha felt thirsty again. He asked his disciple to fetch some water . His disciple went again .. this time the water was clear. His disciple brought some for his master.

Buddha drank the water and asked him “Why were you able to fetch water the second time?”

“The water was clean master “ his disciple answered . Buddha smiled and said… Our mind is like this running water and the thoughts are like the mud.. too much movement causes the mind to be chaotic . Let the mud settle .. the mind will be clear like the river.

There is a wonderful lesson in this story isn’t it?

What we need to do is simple … just be aware of the present moment. Allow the mud to settle. Savour the moment. Try to be at one place at a time. This is known as Mindfulness. And there are immense benefits of Mindfulness. I have listed down a few :-

You will understand yourself better.
You get clarity.
It helps to reduce stress and decrease anxiety
It helps you to focus your attention
Improved mood and helps us to improve our relationships as we will pay attention.

So ladies.. what are we waiting for? Let’s start this wonderful practice to live a happy and healthy life.

As Thich Nhat Hanh has said …

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers”