The (Wrong) Way To Practice Mindfulness In Daily Life

Warning! 

This post is not a guidepost that talks about mindfulness practice for beginners. I’m not going to share any methods, tricks, and strategies to practice mindfulness. 

I’m not sure that this post can bring mindfulness to your life, but I’m dead certain that you will learn something exciting about mindfulness. 

Neither I’m a psychology or mental wellness expert nor a person who achieved mindfulness entirely and quickly. I haven’t yet reached the final destination; I’m still on the way. I’m also trying various mindful meditation exercises,mindful meditation exercises, etc. 

However, I can confidently say that I will achieve mindfulness soon because I’m sure of it and how to get it. Do you also want to know? Then read out this very personal short story. 

The story starts when I realize that I need mindfulness and nothing else…

How & when did I come to know this? One of my friends helped me understand this. 

I was living a busy and exciting life, earning a good amount of money, fulfilling my wishes, and every day was like doing something new and fascinating. 

“What? Doing something new every day?” my friend exclaimed.

I said, “Yes, I try doing new fun things every day, and I love doing this.”

“And what about the old things you started the day past?” he asked.

“I don’t bother about them; I leave the old ones and try new ones every day,” I said.

“That means you are not mentally stable and satisfied with a set of things.”, he said.

Mental stability and satisfaction? I disagreed with his opinion. He still tried to convince me and gave me a task; he asked me to stay at home alone, without anything that excited me. No books, no guitar, no tasty food, no internet, no laptop and smartphone, no music, nothing. 

It was a living a day as a minimalist. I suffered that day because I felt that I could not live a happy life with myself. I was utterly dependable on other things, people, places, and moments to be happy.

I was gone mad staying home the whole day. I was thinking about all the negative things that happened to me in the past, and suddenly I started worrying about the future. My friend came to me at night and explained my mental stability and satisfaction. 

Again, mental stability and satisfaction?

Now, these two words got stuck in my mind. After a very long conversation about this, he convinced me that I was trying to skip the tedious and problematic things and hopped on new things every day that excited me. It made me incapable of having mental toughness during challenging situations.

Here starts the journey to achieve mindfulness. I tried various techniques to practice mindfulness in daily life. I started with peace of mind meditation and tried other mindfulness meditation exercises. 

I just wanted to be happy without relying upon anything. It is always challenging to change your lifestyle suddenly, but it is possible with solid determination and exemplary efforts.

I tried to control my mind and actions, but it wasn’t easy. I watched thousands of videos by various spiritual leaders such as Swami Gaur Gopal Das, Sadhguru, Brahm Kumari Shivani, Swami Mukundananda, and HG Amogh Lila Prabhu. 

I found a handy way to control my mind, and it helps me achieve mindfulness. This way comprises many steps that include:

Don’t Force Your Mind

You can’t forcefully control your mind. The more you control it, the more it becomes uncontrollable. 

Make It Free

Keep your mind free from things that are uncontrollable in your life. Focusing on such items will lead you to anxiety and stress. 

Don’t Copy Others

For some people, meditation works for others, listening to music is enough to stay calm and feel mindful, so never try to copy methods followed by others because they may not work for you.

Follow Your Inner Voice

Ask yourself, what makes you relaxed and calm? Devotional activities? Showing humanity? Meditation? Or anything else? Always follow your inner voice. 

Learn To Live (Alone)

Mindfulness is all about learning to live a peaceful life, but learning to live alone is also a good practice of mindfulness. Respect others, value others, but never be attached to anything and anyone. 

No Targets

Never set targets because it is all about relaxing your mind. If you assign goals like “sitting for a meditation session of 2 hours” or anything, you will be unhappy when you fail to achieve that goal.

Takeaway!

Our mind is like sand in hand; the more you forcefully try to hold (control) it, the more it goes out of your hand. I have reached this conclusion after a lot of failures. Always try to live a soothing life with complete presence of mind. You can’t make it happen in the first shot, keep trying, and one day you will be there.

-Pankaj Rai