Mindfulness is usually depicted to be the state of being nonjudgmental of the inner and outer experience which surrounds the existence of a person at a particular moment as exemplified by Epstein (1999). This essay is going to reflect on my personal mindfulness experience and the challenges incurred during the practice of being mindful in a conversation with a friend.
In my quest for practicing mindfulness while conversing with a friend, I found it to be very hard not to be internally judgmental. However, I did find it relaxing to just lay back and evaluate keenly listening to the conversation. What intrigued me most is that the conversation mostly dealt with what the other person was articulating than just random meaningless chatting (Brown & Ryan, 2003).
At first it was hard as other thoughts clouded my mind. The thought was mostly past conversations with this particular friend. Also, my mind was also wandering about the chores which were on the list of to do things on my schedule on that particular day. I would from time compassionately and kingly refocus my attention on the conversation. However, refocusing was another chore all the same, as each and every time I would find myself veering of my attention and setting them to the future chores which awaited my participation (Christopher, Et al, 2006). The funny part lies in the negative impact which seemed to cloud my reasoning of future focus. How I might be late to delivering the assignment which I had, and also how it might not appease the lecturer.
The experience was marvelous; however, I had some challenges on focusing entirely on the conversation. However, the experience brought a new dimension to my reasoning. This I concurred with the old saying that; “we are given two ears and one mouth, to listen more and talk less.” Being mindful of others offers double benefits, better elucidation of others’ wants, and offers peace and bliss on own account. The method of refocusing which I found efficient was fully concentrating on the conversation and blocking other thoughts as noted by Beitel, Et al (2005).
In conclusion, mindfulness is one of the best practices which offers bliss and abundance of life without much strain. Refocusing when the mind strays from the subject although an uphill task offers a new dimension of view of things. This practice not only offers peace of mind and reduces the stress of life but has many profound benefits to the health, thus it is advisable that one accommodate it to their daily existence.