Why Mindfulness Meditation?

Jon Kabat Zinn defines mindfulness as, “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally”. 

It seems like such a contradiction to pay attention and yet, as much as possible, to stop the mind from wandering, and over-thinking. Just sitting with no thoughts. Crazy right!? This is the truth of none of it and all of it. What a paradox.

When I first started meditating 30 years ago, I was as green as they come. Without any mentor, teacher, or experienced guidance, I began to meditate. I was grieving a painful but necessary divorce and looking for relief from my deep sadness and pain. I felt like a failure and wanted a path to some peace and happiness that had been elusive for so long. I was empty and needed some fuel. Yup, meditation was the way to go.

What a roller coaster that turned out to be. I sat every day for about 30 minutes and “went inside”. It did relieve the stress, my monkey mind (hamster in the wheel obsessive thinking), and I finally gained a decent nights’ sleep. The ruminating about the woulda. shouda, coulda, began to subside. What I didn’t expect after about 6 weeks, was a meditation that was beyond profound. My mind let go of earth reality and went to that place of what I describe as nothing and everything. It was a vast expanse with no end and no beginning that I had not anticipated reaching with my self-deprecating ignorance of the process.  I had landed (floated) to far reaching fields of consciousness. Who knew. During my sitting practice I had reached nowhere land. It scared the shit out of me and I ceased to meditate for about five years. I simply didn’t know what to do with the vastness of space I had experienced. I needed sold ground, and I had leapt off the cliff without a parachute.

Soooo, here I am now, not as a frazzled single mother, but a wiser, more experienced human striving to maintain the beginners mind approach to my practice, always curious, mostly non-judgemental, and more at peace than ever. Following are a few tidbits of the benefits of a mindfulness practice and how integrating it into your life will benefit you, and by association, everyone you meet. Electromagnetic energy is palpable, and it radiates from your body. What message do you want to send?

Mindfulness meditation...

• Benefits the mind, body and soul

• Creates an intimate relationship with the self. You find out who you are.

• Sometimes you can just be rather than do. Deep work is so rewarding.

• Is easy to do; difficult to master. It takes practice and discipline – then you grow.

• Helps us to transcend our preconceived limitations.

• Reveals our blindness. Things our ego tells us are simply not true.

• Like life, it is an adventure. Ups and downs are meaningful learning experiences.

• Is a foundation for life. Negative thoughts are looking for resolution.

• Helps with stress reduction and physical pain reduction

• Is a way of being. It is not a philosophy or religion, or technique. It is a practice to see things as they really are. The truth is the path to peace.

• Is a collaboration between your health care practitioner and your inner compass of intuition and mindfulness

• Compliments medicine and science with neuroplasticity and epigenetics

• Creates a mindful relationship with the self, with others – the human family

• Is timeless.

Non-doing IS action in motion. If you stay in the present moment, with moment-to-moment awareness, you can, in fact, effect the future with wise attention and wise actions. Meditation may not bring you happiness, but it will bring you peace. It does not make you whole, it helps you to recognize that you already are. Go in peace. Heal the wounds. Share that beauty with others.

Susan Lee Woodward 

Mindfulness Meditation Practitioner

Reiki Master

Medical Intuitive

Laughter Yoga Facilitator

Writer