Mindful Musings

Musings on sleep

Mindfulness practices cultivate an awareness that helps us be awake to life. From a grounded, centred and spaciousness awareness we can see more clearly and respond to things without being caught in an escalation of reactivity or a numb avoidance, where we end up wishing our lives away.

While it matters to be awake to life we are also in need of the restorative effects of sleep. This often elusive state is different from what we are practicing when we practice mindfulness, but mindfulness practices can help us establish the conditions for good sleep.

Here’s a practice for before bed or for times you are awake in the night. Don’t worry if it doesn’t create sleep. These practices can be just as restorative as actual sleep.

Mindfulness for restfulness (15 minutes)

Musings on Compassion

The word mindfulness is a translation which could have equally been translated as heartfulness. The use of the word ‘mind’ can mistakenly carry a message about the practice being predominantly cerebral or intellectual rather than conveying the way in which it is also embodied and heartfelt and connected. Compassion is an inherent quality of mindfulness, but it is also discussed as a distinct dimension and practice in its own right. From a Western Psychology perspective, it is particularly important where there is a critical internal dialogue in play. Interestingly, folk with a strong self-critical voice often skip over or push away from these practices, so it matters to approach them with a gentle curiosity until they become more familiar and relatable.