The subject of Mindfulness has been around for thousands of years but more specifically since the time of Buddha, 2500 years ago. The word has now become synonymous with Buddhism and is slowly but surely seeping into mainstream neuroscience, medicine, psychotherapy and the world of healing itself.
There are many ways to disengage from destructive emotions and thoughts and certainly mindfulness is surely one such way. One specific technique from the Buddhist tradition is in what they call, “Taking Notice Three times,” or “taking notice thrice.”
So, when very strong, almost overwhelming feelings or thoughts come to you, the object of the method is to become acutely aware of these feelings and thoughts by “taking notice three times.”
The vital part is for us to say inwardly three times: “overwhelming emotions, overwhelming emotions, overwhelming emotions.” Of course you can just as easily say, “anger, anger, anger” or “lust, lust, lust,” or “hurt, hurt, hurt.” The point is to just take complete note of it so that you are not unconscious or oblivious of it. Simply that!
These strong feelings, emotions and destructive thoughts only give us trouble because we are so identified with our minds, our emotions, feelings and our body. Just think for a minute how different your life would be if you were not identified with all the garbage, which that bio- computer you call the mind, dishes up to you every day.
We can only get into trouble with our emotions, thoughts and feelings when we are unconscious BUT when we are aware, the mind and emotions cannot take a grip on us because we are, in that very destructive moment, conscious.
Society has imposed on us much that is false and has encouraged us to repress strong emotions and feelings because of the imagined consequences.
In time we forget that these strong feelings and emotions still exist in us as can be seen when outbursts towards our loved ones have erupted. We don’t do that in public because we want to show a nice face. All crap of course.
As usual the topic is vast and cannot be covered in such a short article; it is to everyone’s benefit to know that the process of mindfulness is a twenty-four-hour phenomenon.
For those wanting to watch a video by Mark Williams, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford, you can go here.
Chris Borrett
Image Credit: FreeImages.com-Tosaporn Boonyarangkul
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