Mindfulness is all the rage, and meditation seems to be the process by which we are all attempting to be more mindful. I, too, have found myself sucked into the vortex and have been using the excellent app Headspace on a daily basis for most of this year.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the positive impact it has had on my sleeping (and ability to go to sleep) and on identifying and managing mental chatter.
But, I have also found that becoming aware of yourself is a rather disconcerting side effect of meditation. The process of meditation requires you to sit to one side of yourself and observe things like your breathing. Or thoughts coming and going. Which is rather an odd feeling. And definitely alarming for me to realise how often those thoughts come, rather than go.
It’s also brought into stark relief just how difficult it is to be mindful as I go about my daily activities. I am currently using a technique called “noting” which requires you to just make a mental note when becoming distracted during the meditation process. You do this by identifying the source of distraction as either “thinking” or “feeling”. This is relatively straightforward. What is more challenging is the homework: I am supposed to “note” each time I stand or sit during the day. Just note that it has happened in order to be absolutely in the moment at that moment.
As Parisian waiters have been known to exclaim: C’est impossible!