Exploration Within: Mindfulness and Journaling

Independence has been an inherent craving in all of us. People work tirelessly, day and night to attain independence but here's doubt, Can we really be independent? Free from everyone and everything? complete and impermeable? No exchange from the outside world? Won't it be a vacuum then? Well, for a balanced life, understanding the concept of Interdependence can help us better. Nobody can be independent. Everything in the world is interdependent. Take an example in your surrounding and soon you will realize that nothing can sustain in a vacuum. Everything is interconnected and interrelated like beads in a string. From the working of our body to the functioning of the cosmos, each entity coordinates with each other to run the system.

Most of the times systems fail because of the lack of coordination and this slack coordination happens because we usually don't give due acceptance to others' ideas, viewpoints or work. We interpret things negatively. But to make the system harmonious one needs to accept the situation of one's self and the environment and be very clear that everything has its own significance, every idea matters, every situation teaches and the bad ones can be tackled calmly. To have such a calm mindset one needs to establish a close relation with oneself. One needs to know one's patterns. By pattern, it is meant, having an understanding of how you respond to a particular situation. For instance, in times of anxiety, some people become numb, keep sleeping throughout, whereas others become insomniac. So, to tackle tough situations one needs to understand how does one's psyche/ body responds in times of crisis. Being aware of the patterns helps us to sail through the situation calmy and recovery is also speedy.

 To live in harmony with ourselves and with the environment, it is pertinent to know who you are! and what your environment is! because better coordination can happen if a better understanding of the subsequent part is established. Looking for the options available to us to connect with ourselves and to our environment, we reach to mechanisms called Mindfulness and Journaling.

These are the techniques of knowing oneself. As life speeds up with technologies, self-awareness diminishes. But these techniques can help us understand better, and be in harmony with ourselves.

Mindfulness is an act of being aware of what is happening without being judgemental. Being in present and being aware of the situation. For instance, if you don't feel well, just be aware of the uneasiness but don't judge that why did this pain happened to you only, when will it be okay, etc. don't get into the question and answer with yourself. Just be calm, relax! and once you are aware of what exactly has happened to you and calmness has prevailed, your mind will be quick enough to look for an efficient solution. So, with the practice of mindfulness, the brain gets used to being calm first and prompt next. This helps deal with the situations, whether big or small, internal or external. The habit of mindfulness can be cultivated by incorporating it into actions.

Well, mindfulness is quite different from meditation. Meditation means channelizing all the attention at a single point, going beyond the physical world, whereas mindfulness is being in present but having a non-judgmental, kind, and curious attitude.

Mindfulness can be better incorporated through the practice of Journaling. Journaling is noting down, what one is experiencing in the present moment. Again is it different from a diary entry in the way, a diary entry is like a memoir that is written to remember things and take a reference in the future if need be. Journaling is done just to check in with oneself. Some people randomly start writing and some do it through prompts. Prompts are certain questions about self-awareness and one has to write a response for them. For example,

• what am I currently afraid of?
• what makes me forget to eat and sleep?
• What do I hear in silence?
• What am I avoiding right now and why?
• What am I Repeating?
•  If I could start my life over what would I do differently? are some of the journal prompts.

 Eventually, it is very important to value life, it's precious, be in harmony with everything around. Mindfulness and journaling are the methods to make lives worthy and fulfilling.