Mindfulness: The Stop Practice

My three words to live by in 2013 are share, mindfulness, and active. Last week on Music Sunday at Experience Optimism, we looked at what sharing means to me with Gavin DeGraw's "Soldier" and I promised to look at my other two words in a future post.

Today's post brings us to my second word: mindfulness. I'm not at all into meditation and I don't, at least at this point, practice yoga. However, last year as part of my work with the Idaho Occupational Therapy Association, I attended a half-day seminar on mindfulness. I learned how being more aware of our surroundings and our bodies would bring balance to our lives. I believe such balance brings happiness. It can also bring peace.

I was heartened to find this exercise on YouTube today because it demonstrates the balance that I hope to achieve. "The STOP Practice," is a simple way to begin to understand mindfulness. Please try it.




According to research at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, mindfulness is known as a therapeutic intervention to relieve stress. Through practice, mindfulness can help the areas in our brains grow to develop better memory and learning skills, and alleviate depression. Read "Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density" to learn more about its properties and possibilities.

I  invite you to join me for a quiet version of Music Sunday with The Stop Practice exercise and we'll get back to rock, pop, rhythm and blues and the music that strikes my fancy, imagination or memories next week.