Why be mindful?

Excellent question! One I don’t talk about much, in part because it’s difficult to explain!

Mindfulness is an experience and experiences, by nature are easier to experience than explain. It’s a lot like describing the experience of what an apple tastes like to someone who’s never tasted an apple. I can describe my experience, and how much better it is to just hand you an apple!

Likewise, it’s much easier for me to share the experience with you and have you decide from your experience why to practice mindfulness – or not – than it is for me to describe my experience and have you decide.

So, in this case, I’m going to stop writing and say, watch the video! Have the experience and draw your own conclusions.
I will say, as I do in the video, that mindfulness make my life richer. I’m much more aware of what’s going on inside and outside of me. This awareness adds texture, sound, complexity and vividness that otherwise I would miss.

It also helps me notice my uncomfortable unconscious and/or habitual patterns… and as uncomfortable as that can be (!!!), that knowledge allows me to start changing them. Of course, I use all kinds of other tools to help me change any deep psychological-emotional patterns. Mindfulness (awareness of them) isn’t enough. What mindfulness does allow me to do is recognize that those patterns exist (recognition is an important step!) and notice when they’re happening so that I can apply the tools of change. Mindfulness is the meta-tool that allows all of the other tools to work. It’s a kind of superpower that supercharges everything else.

Test it out. You might like it. If not, there are lots of other ways to evolve!

Enjoy!