Meditation and Mindfulness may seem like a trend, with postures, mantras and practices seemingly limited to a very small segment of the world’s population. Images appear of yogis and monks dressed in a particular way, holding postures that appear less than ideal to many of us.
We hope to remove this association and help people to first understand, and then experience how every person is already attempting to reach the very state that mindfulness and meditation bring. The main difference is that we try to get outside of our minds in order to feel the joy and happiness that comes with alignment with the present moment. The mind contains memories (of course some good and some painful) from our past and fears or projections about the future.
Every “addiction” involves an activity or substance that we once liked, that once brought us beyond our minds and into the present moment. The only problem here is that the body adapts to the chemicals and as memories are created of the activities, the activities need to somehow change or become more extreme so as to shock and bring us beyond our minds again. This is the reason why movie makers need more violence and horror in order to shock and bring in their audiences.
The need to shop is the same because it is only with new things that gaps appear within the mind, because no memories of that “new” item exist. This is a reason why we tire of the things we buy so quickly – ranging from a few minutes of excitement to possibly even a few years until it means very little and something new is needed to create that gap.
Almost everyone who enjoys playing, participating or watching sports does so because they are tapping into the presence and “now” that the athelete or sportsperson is mostly displaying when in the game. They have to be completely present, watching the ball, the road, the wind conditions, and pretty much everything around them including their teammates if it’s a team sport. In team sports, team members often unconsciously turn into a single entity, becoming like a flock of birds or school of fish that has the ability to instinctively move as a group.
Holidays and travel are again opportunities, sometimes quite expensive opportunities to be present and get away (out) of our minds. New surroundings, tastes, sounds, smells and tastes give us some relief from the mind, as we move toward a more sensual experience – using our senses again as the doorways they were always meant to be into the present moment.
The list goes on and on, and the mission of The Mindfulness Zone is to bring this simple knowledge and awareness to everyone in this world, but whilst showing them that the alignment we all seek between mind, body and the present moment is accessible to all and more importantly, quite free of the external conditions we grow up believing to be the source of happiness, joy and contentment. Our mission is to also reduce the consumption of the natural and manufactured resources required in order to satisfy this endless appetite for more of everything which is having detrimental effects on flora, fauna, animals, and all other life forms on this planet and including this planet. This need for more has also led to the exploitation of many of the most vulnerable people on this planet – something that meditation and mindfulness can alleviate as we begin to move beyond the identification with the mind, body, family, community, nation, and race – whether ethnic or the human race itself to the exclusion of other the other species that are connected to us in deep and profound ways the world is only just beginning to discover.