Have you heard about mindfulness?, a girl asked once.
Mindfulness? Is it a kind of yoga?
No, no. It is a new thing, where you pay attention to what you do.
Isn't it funny how old things come back sometimes and we believe to be the first ones to explore the matter?
With mindfulness it is exactly like that.
A little bit more than two thousand years ago, people in India and Nepal used teachings and techniques to calm their minds. They found out that if you do just one thing at the time, just one simple thing, you would be more peaceful, joyful and overall happier.
They didn't use any specific word, it was just an action - you simply do it. Many many years later, with the urge to control and try to understand life, we created labels for everything, including for what they were doing - mindfulness. It's almost if suddenly someone creates a word for "washing dishes".
And we weren't the first ones. In Japan, they use the word MAKOTO, which is translated as "putting 100% attention in what you do". Does it sounds like mindfulness?
Labels apart, if certain word works better for you, go for it. The idea is to use it more and to explain or try to understand it less. Do things thinking about what you are doing, and that's it.
Whenever you want to call it, empty your mind and just be mindful.
Rbaena
