Hi,
I'm Bassem.
Thank you for joining me.
And today our conversation is going to be about the mindful life.
Be present,
Be happy,
And be aware.
So welcome my friends.
Thank you for joining me.
I'm honored that I could be your guide today through the mindfulness life.
We should start by saying a few words about what exactly is a mindful life.
It's interesting how in our language,
Words often get diffused.
For example,
Mindfulness has become a bit of a catchphrase,
Cliché even.
It's lost much of its significance and its potency because of the way we use it without really understanding its implications.
Mindfulness is about embracing presence,
Peace,
And joy in our everyday lives.
It invites us to cultivate a deeper connection within ourselves.
In today's fast-paced world filled with constant distraction,
Pressures,
Demands,
Responsibilities,
It's easy to feel overwhelmed and disconnected.
Stress and anxiety,
Social bewilderment,
What has sometimes felt for me like this underlayer of heaviness.
You know,
It's just there.
The first time I tried meditation was when I was about 17.
I hated it.
I never thought I would ever try it again.
It was just a nightmare.
Sitting in my hallway trying to wrap my mind around this practice.
A few years later,
Fortunately,
I discovered the practice again in a magazine article.
I took to it like a house on fire.
Meditation points to a possibility that is a far departure from the ideas that I had inherited about life.
About what happiness is and what constitutes success.
It was this practice that was promising something else that was not outside of myself.
Telling me that the inner life is the fulfillment of the outer life.
You're standing in a beautiful garden surrounded by vibrant flowers of all colors blooming but your mind is elsewhere,
Lost in thoughts of yesterday and worries about tomorrow,
Completely oblivious to the beauty and richness that surrounds and not least oblivious to the immense opportunities that are contained in the present moment.
And yet that's how the vast majority of our population,
Our species and our current level of consciousness exists.
We ignore that the present moment is not just a fleeting instant in time.
The now is the fertile soil of our being.
The question is how do we cultivate mindfulness in the midst of so many distractions and so many important responsibilities?
Who's got time for presence?
Nearly 40 years being preoccupied with this topic I've come to understand that it's actually not that hard.
There are many paths to mindfulness in daily life and they all share this common thread.
Presence.
Presence,
The underlying reality behind all experience.
There is experience and then there's the underlying reality,
What religion calls God and what science calls a field of all potentiality.
And the common denominator is presence.
Presence is the juncture between the field and experience.
It's the bridge that allows the two to consciously relate to one another.
Our essential reality is the field of all potentiality.
We are fractals of that field.
Contrary to this idea that our fulfillment is in the experience,
Our lasting fulfillment is in self-realization,
Knowing our essential reality.
This is the value proposition of mindfulness.
You're in your office perhaps or you're in your bedroom or you're in the kitchen washing the dishes.
Warm water or hot water flowing over your hands.
You're looking at the soap on the dish.
Usually you're in such a state of hurry trying to finish this so you can get on with your life.
Instead you stop and you become aware of the fact of your being.
Engaging with the dishes,
The fact of you,
The being of you,
The weight of you,
The sense of you,
Your feet on the ground,
Your hands feeling the hot.
You're stabilizing your mind in this moment of engagement.
Or you're walking and you're feeling your feet touching the ground right now and I'm talking but my attention is in the soles of my feet.
A simple but profound life skill of shifting our attention inward from the external distractions to the serene depth of our original state.
Even a few minutes of practice each day yields profound benefits.
By synchronizing or aligning our awareness with the reality of our being everything suddenly makes sense.
Mindful movement practices are another tool like yoga or tai chi.
They help us to pay close attention to the sense field in the body,
The energetic matrix within.
Also mindful eating is a wonderful practice.
It's an opportunity to slow down to savor each bite,
Chewing the food,
Receiving the sweetness or the bitterness or the sourness.
All these are capable of bringing your mind,
Your awareness into the present moment.
So you see how you can integrate practices into your daily life through the act of eating.
Presence transforms the unconscious moment into a sacred moment of grace.
How about mindful communication?
Not only does it encourage us to be present,
Available to the other,
To listen,
To speak consciously,
But also cultivates empathy,
Allowing deeper connection with the other.
So you can turn your life into a mindful experience.
You can read mindfully,
You can breathe mindfully,
And in that effort you release,
You purify,
And in time you're able to stay in your being connected with the underlying reality.
From unconsciousness to consciousness everything becomes a moment of grace.
How about we take a mindful moment now?
Some of you arguably are already in this mindful state.
Just close your eyes wherever you're sitting,
Or if you're prepared to leave your eyes open,
That's fine,
You could just lower your gaze and start to take a few deep breaths.
Notice sounds that are around you.
Sounds are one of the most readily available ways to enter into the mindful state.
Just notice them without judgment.
Now let your breath come back to natural.
As you feel your body,
And as your body is settling and you're breathing naturally,
And you are receiving the sounds without judgment,
You start to become aware of the sensations of your body.
Maybe the weight of your body,
Wherever you're sitting,
The feeling of it.
You're aware of your breath coming,
Going,
Your chest expanding with the inhale,
Releasing with the exhale,
Becoming increasingly more and more aware to the sensations of your being.
Simply witness the sounds,
The sensation.
Meditation is just that,
Learning to prioritize the right thing over the wrong thing.
When catching yourself prioritizing the wrong thing,
In this case thoughts,
You simply come back.
Prioritize your breath.
Feeling the chest rising and falling.
Experiencing the unfolding delight of being that we call serenity.
And that's it,
My friends.
Start to bring your awareness now back to the room.
The seeds of presence,
Peace,
Serenity,
Joy,
They are not out of phenomenon.
They are always within us,
Waiting to be nurtured and cultivated through the practice of mindfulness.
Thank you once again,
My friends.
Be well.
Be present.
Be mindful.
Wishing you well.
Bye-bye for now.
