Mindfulness - What is it? How do I get it?

Mindfulness may be a new word to you. I mentioned it in yesterday's post. Somehow that triggered my thinking cap to dwell upon the word and how we will approach learning about it in the workshop "From Stress to Serenity." I said yesterday that it basically refers to focussing. And, it can be applied to every activity - not just sitting meditation. If you are truly interested in serenity, silence is a major part of achieving it. In that silence, what do you do? You go inward. Yes, it is a self-attention tool. It is not selfish, but self-care. Thich Nhat Hanh recommends that we who are eager for serenity (my word) can practice mindfulness as a tool to go there. During the workshop, we will first look at what stresses you and which stress factors can be eliminated or controlled and which can't. Then we will talk about changing your attitude toward those which cannot be eliminated. After all, you can't change other people and some circumstances cannot be changed, but you CAN change your attitude toward them. Joan Borysenko might call this "resilience." After we figure out where you fall on the stress level scale and what can be changed, we will practice mindfulness tools - Meditation: sitting, walking, eating. Restorative Yoga poses. Expressing gratitude. Journaling. All with the intention of self-care. The intention is to develop serenity. That's where true happiness resides. When you get right down to it, what we all want most is to BE HAPPY!