As a mindfulness practitioner, this is a question that I often ask myself. I tell myself and my students that the practice is like training your mind muscle. Most of us know the value of taking regular physical exercise. Well, the mindfulness practice is just the same. But like going to the gym, sometimes it is much more appealing to curl up on the sofa and watch the TV. Unlike physical exercise, we don’t experience an adrenaline rush after our mindfulness practice, the effects are much more imperceptible, and only noticeable over time.
But if exercising the mind muscle was all that I was doing then I wouldn’t be practicing mindfulness. What really matters is not only the practice but also the intention for my practice. For me it is all about cultivating compassion, and starting with being compassionate to myself, I have noticed that my compassion for others grows.
Discussing this with a friend last week, she told me of an experiment where if you are telling yourself off for something that you have done, you imagine that there are two chairs with two people sitting on them. You are sitting on one chair and on the other is a person who you are sharing your concerns with and how angry you feel with yourself about what you have done. In practically every case, the person on the other chair will not feel the way you do about the problem. They are more likely to be forgiving and definitely not as judgemental as you are to yourself. We are often our own worst critics!
Mindfulness practice helps me to view my feelings and concerns more objectively. It helps me not to be the centre of attention for my stories, good or bad. Paradoxically, it seems to me, that by practicing being kind to myself, I become kinder to others.
So when I feel like curling up on the sofa instead of sitting on my cushion, I remind myself that to be kind to myself I need to make time for my practice.
mindfulzone.co.uk 