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mindfullness

Ihaveaspergers

Active Member
I have heard a lot about mindfulnness. Some people who teach mindfullness says that it can be practiced in the wrong way.
I find that mindfullness is a lot about sitting or standing in a static posture, breath and feel something; may it be a raisin or scanning your body.
To me it seems that midfulness has three problems:
1. It seems to be a way of forcing yourself to be calm or relaxed. It doesn't have to be but it can be. Sometimes the focus is too much on relaxation.
2. Many people need movement (dynamic posture, I think it's called) and not just static posture. Some argue (both my singing/speaking teacher and a yoga hindu from India) that we have to begin with external movement before going to interior movement.
3. It takes time to learn mindfullness and one must take a course and do a lot of homework. Most of the time people just give exercices outside of a course,

What do you think?
 
I think it’s more about tuning out the distractions and becoming intensely aware of your (and your surroundings’) presence. It’s not about forcing yourself to sit still or relax. It’s about eliminating all external and internal forces and letting go off the pressure that dulls your senses. To examine something carefully, wouldn’t you stop moving and start paying attention?
 
You don't need to be still to be mindful. Mindfulness can be done while taking exercise, and out in nature. It works to bring you into the moment, to be mindful of now, rather than oblivious as you walk along thinking or worrying. Just look at and see the trees, the sky or the gardens of houses as you walk past, that's mindfulness.

You can develop this ability to be present in the moment through quiet focus on your breath, but you can also develop it out walking or swimming etc. Whatever suits you,we are all different.
 
You don't need to be still to be mindful. Mindfulness can be done while taking exercise, and out in nature. It works to bring you into the moment, to be mindful of now, rather than oblivious as you walk along thinking or worrying. Just look at and see the trees, the sky or the gardens of houses as you walk past, that's mindfulness.

You can develop this ability to be present in the moment through quiet focus on your breath, but you can also develop it out walking or swimming etc. Whatever suits you,we are all different.
but mindfullness begins with the raisin exercise.
I don't believe that people will get that much help from eating a rasin very slowly.
This is why I am suspicious of mindfullness.
Has anyone been helped by starting to eat a rasin very slowly?
 
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Huh. So that's what I'm feeling all the time. Weird never had to work at that. In the woods you have to be mindful of your surroundings. Due to the many dangers. Your senses are always heightened. You move carefully listening and feeling the world around you. Being still when nesscary. Leaves falling, wind in trees, blowing the leaves at your feet. Careful. Slow steps. Look for the best path. Breath slowly. As you move past the trees. Watching. Looking for movement. Your body must be in tune with your mind. Your clothing will rustle. But, if you move slow it won't make much noise. Every sense is heightened. Alert. Your calm. Purpose before you. Being cautious. Stay quiet. Every sound means something.
 
Huh. So that's what I'm feeling all the time. Weird never had to work at that. In the woods you have to be mindful of your surroundings. Due to the many dangers. Your senses are always heightened. You move carefully listening and feeling the world around you. Being still when nesscary. Leaves falling, wind in trees, blowing the leaves at your feet. Careful. Slow steps. Look for the best path. Breath slowly. As you move past the trees. Watching. Looking for movement. Your body must be in tune with your mind. Your clothing will rustle. But, if you move slow it won't make much noise. Every sense is heightened. Alert. Your calm. Purpose before you. Being cautious. Stay quiet. Every sound means something.
this is why I don't care too much about mindfullness.
Being mindful should be natural to us but we make into a method.
 
Mindfulness doesn't have to involve raisins, the raisin is just a focus for you to practice noticing all your senses as they are used in relation to the raisin, getting you to notice the experience of the raisin in the moment. But you could equally look feel smell etc in the forest or in nature.

We have mostly lost our connection to living in the present that was natural to our ancestors, I guess, and so we need ways to regain and relearn it.
 
For me I focus on my breath when I get distracted from letting go of the thoughts.

Eventually it becomes easier to let go of thoughts and let them continue to pass on by in front of you
 
I practice Absent Mindfullness. I like it because you don't have to read anything or watch any videos, etc.
 
Huh. So that's what I'm feeling all the time. Weird never had to work at that. In the woods you have to be mindful of your surroundings. Due to the many dangers. Your senses are always heightened. You move carefully listening and feeling the world around you. Being still when nesscary. Leaves falling, wind in trees, blowing the leaves at your feet. Careful. Slow steps. Look for the best path. Breath slowly. As you move past the trees. Watching. Looking for movement. Your body must be in tune with your mind. Your clothing will rustle. But, if you move slow it won't make much noise. Every sense is heightened. Alert. Your calm. Purpose before you. Being cautious. Stay quiet. Every sound means something.
Outstanding!

People say they practice mindfulness. After you have practiced a bit, it should become second nature and not need to be "practiced."

Mindfulness is nothing but situational awareness. Being fully where you are and not off in your head somewhere else. It works because it matches what is happening in your head with what is happening within and without you. When I'm hiking, I am almost never surprised by the people I encounter. I hear and see them well in advance of their arrival. If I am with someone, I am always pointing out flowers and animal tracks and animals that they never see. As a mindful person, I see and experience many things a casual hiker does not.

A good driver is extremely mindful. So is a good hunter. Using their senses to absorb the surrounding world and becoming aware of what is going on outside as well as inside.

In a confused and overwrought environment, mindfulness can be downright painful for people on the spectrum because of sensory overload. It is why so many stare at the floor with earbuds playing music. The cacophony of civilized life is too much. The world is too much with us. That is why I always recommend seeking out the silence and subtlety of nature.
 
Outstanding!

People say they practice mindfulness. After you have practiced a bit, it should become second nature and not need to be "practiced."

Mindfulness is nothing but situational awareness. Being fully where you are and not off in your head somewhere else. It works because it matches what is happening in your head with what is happening within and without you. When I'm hiking, I am almost never surprised by the people I encounter. I hear and see them well in advance of their arrival. If I am with someone, I am always pointing out flowers and animal tracks and animals that they never see. As a mindful person, I see and experience many things a casual hiker does not.

A good driver is extremely mindful. So is a good hunter. Using their senses to absorb the surrounding world and becoming aware of what is going on outside as well as inside.

In a confused and overwrought environment, mindfulness can be downright painful for people on the spectrum because of sensory overload. It is why so many stare at the floor with earbuds playing music. The cacophony of civilized life is too much. The world is too much with us. That is why I always recommend seeking out the silence and subtlety of nature.

Well in the woods you have to be. Danger is very real and you must be alert for it. Whatever form it takes.
 
It is almost like total awareness where ever you are without thinking about it.
If it is natural for you, then there is no need to practice.
But, for many it isn't natural so practice is needed like exercise would be needed to build strength
and muscle.

I got about half way through the book and felt it wasn't necessary to do the raisin and the practice
because I have always just lived this way naturally. Didn't know it had a name until I read about it.

Some examples would be people who eat quickly without being aware of how the food tastes, feels,
doesn't chew adequately and end up with indigestion or overly stuffed.
If slow mastication of the food is just your natural way of eating, much the better.
Everyone says I eat slowly. Yeah? Well, that's just me. Doctors will tell you it is better for
digestion. You taste the food and enjoy it. Feel the textures as you eat. And you don't think about it.
It's just natural.

Mindfulness is also naturally being aware of everything around you without having to think about it.
Sights, sounds, air, temperatures, humidity.
You see small things that others are not even paying attention to. They are just walking along
with their thoughts on things other than the here and now or talking away if with someone.
There is an awareness I have that is hard to describe, but, it is as if I somehow feel things
around me that are beyond the physical touch, sight or sound.
Rather like how do you explain "gut" instinct.
It's as though I pick up feelings of life around me and my attention is drawn to it.
Like a lizard on a rock, birds flying overhead, a snake in the path, etc. and I instinctually
look without thinking.

Anyway that's what mindfulness means to me. It doesn't always mean I'm at peace.
I can be angry, anxious or even ruminating and still be in the state of awareness.
 

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