Being Mindful
10:00 AM Edit This 0 Comments »
I've spent a lot of time over the past few days contemplating the topic of mindfulness. I would sincerely like to work on this in my life - think before I act and speak, live in the moment, and just slow down daily living. Remain calm, consider feelings and perspectives other than my own, and then try to learn and grow from them.
I realize that I was a bit harsh on my own sex in my previous post. I did want to just get a few things off my chest that have been weighing there for some time, but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the things that happen to a woman in the hospital during labor and delivery are not always her fault. I still believe that a woman should do her own research and know what is normal (and by that I mean that being pregnant is not a sickness, and having a baby does not have to be a medical event), but that doesn't change the fact that many of us, for many years, have been taught to trust our doctors and everything that they do. It is so sad that the time has come when we do have to question their motives sometimes (i.e. to avoid malpractice), but I understand the thought process behind trusting what they say.
If my body decides to let me, I will be having my next baby at home. I know this choice is not for everyone, but it's right for me. While at home, I will be more able to focus on my body let it do what it's supposed to do. I will not have to worry about nurses coming in to check me and adjust the monitors every 5 minutes, or a giant spaceship-looking light coming out of the ceiling to shine on my crotch while 15 people I've never met gather around. I can labor at home in comfortable surroundings, eat what I want, wear what I want, string up Christmas lights all over, light candles, and listen to my "Spa music" station on Pandora while my husband and my doula give me strength and support through the whole thing.
Laboring at home in peace and quiet, to me, is all about mindfulness. It is so important to focus on the present while you are in labor, and to let your body relax and do its job. Maybe if we all tried to focus on the now a little bit more, life would slow down. I am so tired of everything and everyone moving forward to quickly (I know that I am guilty of this, too, but I am trying to realize it) - we're all connected to everything and everyone all the time, and no one has any downtime anymore, it seems. All people think about is the next thing, and what you have to buy in order to get to that next thing.
I just wish that we - myself included - could all be a little more mindful ...
... of what we buy/use and how it affects the environment
... of what we eat and how far it traveled to get to our plates
... of how we give our bodies nourishment, physically and spiritually
... of what we throw away and where it will end up
... of how we spend our time and where our thoughts most often go
But most of all, I wish we could all be a little more mindful of each other; to be considerate and pleasant, and to smile more often. Life is not about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself (cheesy, yes, but so true). Who do you want to be? When you look back on your life, will you want to change anything? Or will everything you've done been with mindfulness and intention? Life is a journey, and I know that I have a long way to go, but when I'm 80 years old and I look back on my life, I want to know that I've done everything I can to be a mindful person; that I've taken care of my family and the environment around me as much as I can; that I'm healthy in mind, spirit, and body; and that I have loved every minute of every day as much as possible. How will I accomplish this? I'm still trying to figure it out, but I know that I want to simplify things. I want to stop consuming so much of, well, everything, and I want to just be without relying on things.
Three great blog posts from the past few weeks:
Society, reimagined
The Helpful Guide to Living and Intentional Life
Myla and John Kabat-zinn on simplicity
I realize that I was a bit harsh on my own sex in my previous post. I did want to just get a few things off my chest that have been weighing there for some time, but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the things that happen to a woman in the hospital during labor and delivery are not always her fault. I still believe that a woman should do her own research and know what is normal (and by that I mean that being pregnant is not a sickness, and having a baby does not have to be a medical event), but that doesn't change the fact that many of us, for many years, have been taught to trust our doctors and everything that they do. It is so sad that the time has come when we do have to question their motives sometimes (i.e. to avoid malpractice), but I understand the thought process behind trusting what they say.
If my body decides to let me, I will be having my next baby at home. I know this choice is not for everyone, but it's right for me. While at home, I will be more able to focus on my body let it do what it's supposed to do. I will not have to worry about nurses coming in to check me and adjust the monitors every 5 minutes, or a giant spaceship-looking light coming out of the ceiling to shine on my crotch while 15 people I've never met gather around. I can labor at home in comfortable surroundings, eat what I want, wear what I want, string up Christmas lights all over, light candles, and listen to my "Spa music" station on Pandora while my husband and my doula give me strength and support through the whole thing.
Laboring at home in peace and quiet, to me, is all about mindfulness. It is so important to focus on the present while you are in labor, and to let your body relax and do its job. Maybe if we all tried to focus on the now a little bit more, life would slow down. I am so tired of everything and everyone moving forward to quickly (I know that I am guilty of this, too, but I am trying to realize it) - we're all connected to everything and everyone all the time, and no one has any downtime anymore, it seems. All people think about is the next thing, and what you have to buy in order to get to that next thing.
I just wish that we - myself included - could all be a little more mindful ...
... of what we buy/use and how it affects the environment
... of what we eat and how far it traveled to get to our plates
... of how we give our bodies nourishment, physically and spiritually
... of what we throw away and where it will end up
... of how we spend our time and where our thoughts most often go
But most of all, I wish we could all be a little more mindful of each other; to be considerate and pleasant, and to smile more often. Life is not about finding yourself; it's about creating yourself (cheesy, yes, but so true). Who do you want to be? When you look back on your life, will you want to change anything? Or will everything you've done been with mindfulness and intention? Life is a journey, and I know that I have a long way to go, but when I'm 80 years old and I look back on my life, I want to know that I've done everything I can to be a mindful person; that I've taken care of my family and the environment around me as much as I can; that I'm healthy in mind, spirit, and body; and that I have loved every minute of every day as much as possible. How will I accomplish this? I'm still trying to figure it out, but I know that I want to simplify things. I want to stop consuming so much of, well, everything, and I want to just be without relying on things.
Three great blog posts from the past few weeks:
Society, reimagined
The Helpful Guide to Living and Intentional Life
Myla and John Kabat-zinn on simplicity
0 Observations or Opinions:
Post a Comment