The Art of Mindfulness

While working in the education sector, one thing that baffled me the most is how we never talk about the basic life skills with our kids. No one talks about love. No discussion happens on the art of cooking. In fact, some of the fundamental responsibilities in social life such as common courtesy, compassion and tolerance are all left unmentioned in our curriculum. It is unbefitting of modern education that we do not focus on the basic etiquettes of social life and produce generations of machinelike professionals who eventually fall prey to the pressures of work and add to the statistics on mental health issues. The million dollar question is, 'can't we do better?'

There is no disagreement on the fact that there is so much beauty to life and relationships. There is much to be cherished around us in nature. Every moment unfolds in front of us with so many elements of love, wonder and magic. When life can be quite rewarding and full of wonder, why do many of us end up with stress-related mental health disorders?

Where does all the stress come from? Either by living in the past or the future. We often forget that life doesn't have to be a marathon between the endless deadlines and the ever increasing bills. Life becomes suffocating when fear and worries take the place of love, wonder and magic.

The easy way out of stress is to live in the present. Perhaps, it is the Buddhists who first suggested the practice of mindfulness to live in the moment. Mindfulness is the art of living every moment with awareness. It is the bridge between our inner being and the present moment. It is the art of appreciating every moment through conscious living. When we light up our daily chores with the lamp of awareness, time is not heavy and undesirable anymore. When we consciously spend our moments doing work, we start to unconsciously appreciate those moments and the work. It is magical.

Let us try switching off the autopilot mode and give ourselves the gift of mindful living

Ms. Renjitha. K. R

Assistant Professor of English

Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor