On Time

In preparation for our next Mindful Living workshop on the topic “Our Relationship with Time”, I’ve been fascinated by the replies I’ve received when asking people what the word ‘time’ brings up for them. Here are some of their statements:

  • There’s never enough time 
  • Too much time to think scares me
  • It’s really wrong to be late
  • Killing time is a problem for me
  • Time heals, doesn’t it?
  • Time flies too fast
  • Wasting time is my biggest anxiety
  • Time passes more quickly as I get older

I’m greatly looking forward to our conversations during the workshop and would encourage you to ponder for yourself what your perceptions and beliefs about time are, where in your conditioning they have come from, and how your perception of time impacts your daily life? Come and share in this ‘time’ with us and bring your sentences with you!

Contact us to book your space at this workshop as numbers are limited. info@mindfulme.me or whatsapp on +971 54 466 8400
Sunday 12 November from 7pm – 9pm
Hosted venue in TECOM, Dubai

The Simplicity of Mindfulness Practice

By Helen Williams

Mindfulness helps us to pay attention to our thoughts, to the impulses that come from them.

In our daily lives we are learning to notice what our thoughts are creating. For example, when we become aware that our work is difficult we can notice our thinking becomes “I’m going to stop now because this is too hard” and if we just observe that thought is becomes, “Oh my thinking is pushing me to stop what I’m doing because it’s hard”.  We don’t have to obey the impulse to stop working. We can simply notice that is what our thinking is doing, take some steady mindful breaths and quietly, with awareness, make a choice about following the impulse, or not.

A few moments of focussed quiet awareness can be all it takes for us to choose to continue to push through, mastering a difficult moment instead of giving in to it.

It’s like learning to disobey ourselves!! It’s such a simple act of clarity, insight and freedom! Have you ever stopped to see it like that? You are not your thoughts.  You don’t have to obey the voice of self-sabotage, of taking the easy way out.  Instead, harness the power of inner awareness and disobey your thoughts!

Wonderful outcomes can occur from the simplicity of this insight.

The Paradox

By Isabel Galiardo

Let go and be present. When I listen to these words it sounds as if they are asking that I do two opposite things simultaneously. How can I stay focused and aware and yet not hold onto anything?

The key to this paradox is to distinguish what stays and what has to leave. The witness in us remains.The pervading presence of our being stays. Our ego, the sum of our old habits, preconceptions and repetitive thoughts is the part of us we choose to let go of.

If we want to stay alive, not just physically but spiritually, we have to let go of our old stories and surrender to the now.

Every breath is a new one, every encounter brings something different, every step of the way is new.

As the zen proverb says:

”When walking, walk. When eating, eat.”

So simple…