Now

This post was written for inclusion in the Mindful Mama Blog Carnival hosted by hosted by Kelly of Becoming Crunchy and Zoie of TouchstoneZ. Participants are writing posts about what mindfulness mean to them. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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Given that I am in the midst of my own mindfulness challenge right now, one would think this month’s carnival topic would be easy for me. I should certainly know and understand what mindfulness means to me because if I didn’t, I would not be able to hone my mindful practices. Yet in this moment, I find it difficult to really pinpoint what mindfulness actually means to me and therein is my answer.

I am in this moment, writing, typing and listening to Foster the People on YouTube. In this moment, I’m peeking at the Emmy’s because Hugh Laurie is presenting an award and he is worth looking at. Now, I’m thirsty and I’ll reach for my glass of water, take a sip and feel the cool liquid slide down my throat, my esophagus and into my stomach. A few of my fingers are wet from the condensation. In this moment.

This is mindfulness. It means that I am not worrying about what tomorrow will bring, what food I will make or whether or not an apparent blockage in my kitchen piping will be fixed. I’m not thinking about how late I was to church this morning, how it would have been better for me to get up earlier or how I could have spent a lot more of my time searching for jobs.

It was an effort for me to think of each of those things because I had to reach out of the present moment where I’m listening to the typing of my fingers and the smooth talking of some British guy on TV. I don’t like to do that because it causes all sorts of unfortunate feelings of “regret” and worry that I do not wish to have in my life. Instead, I look intently at my screen, as it stands right now. I glance down at my hands when I don’t know what to say next. I look over at the TV when it distracts me. I switch windows when I need to break up my thoughts.

This is mindfulness and what it looks like moment to moment.

It means that I live now. Not yesterday or tomorrow, ten minutes ago or ten seconds from now; just now. Mindfulness is this moment and nothing else. Live it.

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Visit the Mindful Mama Blog Carnival Homepage to find out how you can participate in the next Mindful Mama Blog Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• An Alternative Approach to Parenting Mindfully Through Present Moment Awareness Amy at Peace 4 Parents offers an experience of present moment awareness as a pathway to mindful parenting.
• Define: Mindful Alicia C. at McCrenshaw describes the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings for Engaged Buddhism and attempts to describe how she can apply them to her non-Buddhist life on her new journey toward mindfulness.
• This is what mindfulness looks like in my life Charise @ I Thought I Knew Mama describes what mindfulness looks like in her life in the form of poetry.
• Practice, Practice, Practice: Becoming a Mindful Mother Erin at it's OK shares her definition of mindfulness, and her struggle to develop a regular practice.
• How Meditation Makes Me a More Mindful Mother Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares her methods for sneaking meditation into each and every day in an effort to dig deep and be the most mindful mother possible.
• A Simple Practice Kat at My Mental Oddities outlines a simple practice with children
• Our Family Mission Statement Patti @ Jazzy Mama writes about how living mindfully means living intentionally. She created her Family Mission Statement to help her family stay focused on their goals and values.
• I REALLY Miss Being Mindful! Tracie of Purposeful Practices shares what it’s like to find and then lose your mindfulness practice.
• My Job Made Me a Mindful Mother Amy at Anktangle tells a story about how a mindfulness practice she used to utilize in her job as a nurse still impacts the way she mothers her son today.
• Now Amanda at Let's Take the Metro shows how mindfulness is all about living in the moment.
• Stepping into the Unknown To Rachael at The Variegated Life, mindfulness is a way of stepping into the unknown.
• Derailed Kelly of Becoming Crunchy explores what mindfulness looks like in her new, somewhat more hectic life.
• Mindful Mama Zoie at TouchstoneZ learns to stop struggling by being present with uncomfortable realizations.