On Wednesday evening I returned to Yoga classes after a few years away from them. It was good to be back and to feel my body moving through the vinyasas. During my drive home I was inspired to write about mindfulness on the blog. I only "sort" of know what is meant by mindfulness and I was struck about how unmindful I can be.
Sometimes I am driving and I arrive at my destination without really being mindful of the journey. (Some say aliens are the cause - abduction!!!) But I know that I have not been conscious of my "in the moment".
Life is full of unconscious acts. Recently there has been quite a conversation going on on the Forum about toilets or lack there of on the Camino and how people deal with that issue. That conversation had led into discussions of garbage along The Way. While mindfulness is about being in the moment, I believe that mindfulness is also part of the golden rule, Do onto others as you would have them do onto you. The people who leave their stuff behind without burying it are not being mindful of the earth or of others. Garbage stuffed into stone walls or just left on the trail is not a mindful act. To be mindful about these things would be to take the garbage with you and to leave behind nothing but footprints on the belly of the mother earth.
Our life is one long Camino. Being mindful all the time is not easy because we think too much about too many things that distract from the moment. Being on the Camino Santiago is like life. We live each moment, each step, each restful sleep and each Pilgrim greeting without question or second guessing the experience.
I borrowed the test below from this website http://dharma.ncf.ca/introduction/instructions/sati.html
Mindfulness (Sati) is mirror-thought. It reflects only what is presently happening and in exactly the way it is happening. There are no biases.
Mindfulness (Sati) is non-judgmental observation. It is that ability of the mind to observe without criticism. With this ability, one sees things without condemnation or judgment. One is surprised by nothing. One simply takes a balanced interest in things exactly as they are in their natural states. One does not decide and does not judge. One just observes.
I hope to improve my mindfulness so that I am more conscious in my activities and thoughts and so that I can also be mindful of others.
Namaste
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