May is Mindfulness!

I am so happy to present to our monthly topic: Mindfulness in May. Mindfulness has become incredibly trendy the past ten years You can pay for all kinds of meditation retreats and mindfulness coaching. What even is mindfulness?

I started a meditation practice around 2019-2020. Perfect time right?! I learned about meditation through an app (see upcoming post about meditation). However, some of my best lessons on mindfulness came from my therapist. She is incredibly gifted in working with people with eating disorders, and she works on building a somatic connection between our mind and body. She taught me the practice of “noticing.” Noticing seems so easy and silly to focus on. In her office, when exploring a past, present, or current situation, she would stop the conversation and say “notice if you feel a physical sensation in your body. Where do you feel it? What does it feel like? Now, notice it.” I took that to mean think about the feeling and how it actually feels without judgement. This means I’m not wishing it felt different or telling myself I shouldn’t feel it or that it should be a stronger feeling. Sometimes she would have me “notice” the edges around the physical sensation. Are they shrinking or expanding?

In my own mindfulness practice, I find “noticing” most beneficial when experiencing a negative emotion. When feeling depressed, angry, sad, lonely, or anxious, I automatically reach for food and/or media to comfort myself and distract myself from the feeling. Instead, I am trying to notice the feeling and ask myself “what do I actually need right now?” Often the answer is rest, comfort, or a good cry.

I hope the subjects we explore this month help you feel more comfortable with mindfulness, and I would love to hear about it if you are able to practice some Noticing.