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This word keeps coming up and I would be interested in hearing what mindfulness is for other people.

I am by no means as fluid on the mat as I would like to be (( a combination of age and injury I guess), but you know something really amazing happened this week. I have real trouble in my sun salutation getting my leg from downward dog into a lunge. I always have to take a couple of goes at it (it's my dodgy hips ).

And then this week I really was in the zone, do you know what I mean - total concentration I guess you could call it 'mindfulness' in the pose. And really without thinking about it my foot sort of scooped forwards by itself and as I finished the sequence I just realised what had happened. (OK so on the other side it wasn't quite so fluid!) But you know, it's in the small steps that you realise how far you've come.

I don't know if that is mindfulness but it was a great moment for me.

I hear the word 'mindful' all the time.... but I too don't really know what it means!

to me, it means to keep something in my mind... to think about it... like, if I'm being mindful of others, it means I'm thinking of them and being considerate of them.

maybe it means to not think about only yourself - to let something else fill your mind.

like, maybe even let the pose fill your mind, instead of you filling your mind with thoughts about the pose.

I think being mindful is staying in the present moment - not thinking about the past (I should have, I could have) and the future (this might happen, that might happen). It's all about NOW.

Helen, I love your post, good for you. It's important to celebrate these things and it's exciting when something that's hard, gets easier - phew! Thank goodness!!!

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Helen, you say you achieved "mindfulness" by not thinking about it!!!!! That sounds like Zen to me. A wonderful mini satori.

I think mindfulness is a tricky one. Mindfulness is to act without the robot taking over. In yoga, my eagle-eyed teacher always catches us when we move automatically, without mindfulness. And then I know and can feel the difference between my hands raising and me raising my hands. After yoga, I feel more connected to the possibilities of this moment, rather than chained to the past by my habits of desire and security.

It's said that the brain is overrated as our location of intelligence. And that "thinking" is something that happens (or is supposed to happen) all over the body at once. Maybe, once the pose has filled our mind (as johnny says) the next step is to let our mind fill the pose. Let our mindfulness be all over the body at once, so then acting with total concentration will naturally be to do the best thing possible "without thinking". And without a headache. Is that something like what you experinced?

I'm remembering a phrase from the 70's drug-culture that may be a key to mindfulness and yoga: "We have to get out of our minds in order to come to our senses."

ding ding ding ding ding!!!

I think we have a winner to the question "what is mindfullness!"



funny how being mindful involves a lot more than just your brain.

Yeh, mine too, my teacher can always tell, especially in savasana!!! She tells us to bring our minds back to the present, not on what we're going to do afterwards like pizza for dinner, or our partner picking us up from our class! As well as the past, trawling back over old memories. I have to admit I haven't mastered this yet!

hahaha. thank you johnny. although, i wouldn't want to close the case prematurely. if anyone wants to offer an alternative, or to build on mine....


Leaf, do you get those moments when you're not sure if the teacher just directly looked into your mind or whether she's just thrown out one of those mythical catch-alls again? -- I'd say that's the trademark of a great teacher.

Yes!!!!! I can totally relate, I'm sure mine is a mind reader