Recently we found a mindfulness workshop that we would like to share with you. Recorded in 2011, the speaker was the 85-year-old Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced Tik Nat Han). Gentle, humble and one of the most-respected Zen Masters (people who are relaxed and don’t worry about things that you cannot change), and known as the “father of mindfulness” he was a major influence on Western practices of Buddhism. He died in Vietnam in January 2022.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a breathing exercise that can retrain the mind to settle into the present moment. It’s like becoming a parent to your mind rather than letting it control you. It can help us deal with everyday issues more productively and it can take stress and anxiety out of our lives. All you have to do (as we will explain) is sit in a chair or lie on your bed, close your eyes and breathe.

The benefits are enormous, and it’s a way to help you become calm. It can assist with health conditions, such as stress, anxiety, pain, depression, and even high blood pressure (hypertension); improve your sleep and teach you how to lead your life in an easy-going manner. And it helps your body to absorb the goodness from the plant-based essential oils in every SkinLikes product.

The body has a natural tendency to heal and resting is the only way. For this reason, if you lay down like a hurt animal, you can scan your body with the x-ray of mindfulness, and by stopping longer to give compassion and tenderness to the parts of you that are hurt, it allows healing to happen quicker.

Being aware of our body, you can in a few breaths release the tension within it, and the body can then heal itself. You don’t need to set aside time to do this. Any time of the day, even standing in a bus queue will do, but you must do the work and practice. Mindfulness, concentration and compassion will then get busy and within your own body it can implement the healing tasks.

Worrying is not productive, living in the moment is. Cooking is meditation. The same applies to washing dishes. Don’t rush. Stop being carried away by a fast attitude. Make dishwashing a joyful time. Same applies to having a shower, brushing your teeth, indeed everything that you do. Living life in the present moment liberates nervous tension, exasperation, apprehension and pessimism. Non-thinking is the secret to success.

Mindfulness exercise explained. Do this:

Sit in a comfortable chair with your feet on the floor. Put your hands in your lap. Sit for a minute. Breathe in through your mouth and out through your nose. Make the breath last as long as it takes to fill the lungs. We are all different, so it may take anything from three to ten seconds to breathe in and the same out.

The basic routine:

Breathe in. Say: I am aware of my breath.
Say nothing as you breathe out.
Breathe in. Say: I am aware of my mind.
Say nothing as you breathe out.
In: I am aware of my heart.
Out
In: I am aware of my spine.
Out
In: I am alive.
Out
In: Breathing in, I release all the tension in my body
(work your way around every part of your body with this routine)

If you have an illness, give it more time and some special words as you breathe:

In: I am aware of my spine. Out: nothing.
In: I am aware of the pain in my spine that I have had for a long time. Out: Nothing.
In: I wrap my pain in kindness, as if you are my child. Out: nothing.
In: I give you my special love. Out: nothing.

If you have a tummy pain, repeat the basic routine and then:
In: I am aware of my abdomen rising.
Out: I am aware of my abdomen lowering.
Take your time and breathe each time, as deeply as you can without pain. Keep going for five or ten minutes. It’s like a massage for the tummy and all of the internal organs while touching nothing.

Root consciousness always exists within the body. It can receive, process, and preserve information. In time, you will sleep without dreaming as your mind’s concentration stops.

Getting to sleep: Basic routine is a great way to get to sleep, with nothing but gentle, positive thoughts in your head. Entrust the tasks to our deeper consciousness. Learn to enjoy simple things and remind yourself that we are lucky people.

Call our office 0800 023 6252 if you have questions. We find Mindfulness very helpful. We hope you will agree.

Special Offer:  Please remember to add your name to our email list and you won’t miss out on anything that we are writing. Indeed, why don’t you invite a friend and we will send you a voucher for 25% off your next order and the same offer for the first order from your friend too.