{"id":122253,"date":"2020-03-31T15:30:51","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T04:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=122253"},"modified":"2020-03-31T15:32:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-31T04:32:14","slug":"master-mindfulness-the-coping-strategy-for-social-isolation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2020\/03\/31\/master-mindfulness-the-coping-strategy-for-social-isolation\/","title":{"rendered":"Master Mindfulness: The coping strategy for social isolation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Shannah Kennedy and Lyndall Mitchell are <\/em> The Essentialists<\/a><\/strong> – a duo who work globally to teach mindfulness, life and wellness skills to employees and businesses so they can thrive.<\/em> They are also<\/em> the authors of five books, of which their latest is <\/em>Ignite \u2013 20 Tools to Fire Up Your Life<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Shannah and Lyndall are on the blog to talk about how mastering mindfulness can help you cope with social isolation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lyndall Mitchell and Shannah Kennedy<\/p><\/div>\n

Sharpen your awareness<\/h2>\n\n\n

Whilst the world is rapidly changing on a day to day basis at the moment with the global health crisis, to ease our anxiety, fear and loneliness in self isolation, a life skill to focus on and master is the powerful skill called Mindfulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness is the simplest, clearest, purest train of thought you can have. It is capturing the ability and the discipline of noticing what you are doing, when you are doing it and becoming a master of your mind. Mindfulness has evolved from the age-old Buddhist contemplative practice to an everyday life skill for calm confidence. The actual concept of mindfulness seems quite easy in theory, whereas the actual practice can be a little more challenging \u2013 but, like all things, it becomes easier over time. As Socrates so wisely said, \u201clearn and do, learn and do.\u201d Over time, your mindfulness practice can develop to be a part of daily living when you are walking, working, gardening, writing, cooking or just being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you were younger, mindfulness came quite naturally – you only have to watch a toddler that becomes absorbed with smelling the flowers or touching the grass. As you get older and have more to think about, staying in the moment becomes more difficult. Have you ever driven your car somewhere and arrived at your destination only to realise you remember nothing about your journey? Most of us have! Research is showing that the average person is on autopilot 47% of the time. Living this way, we often neglect to notice the beauty of life, we are disconnected with what our bodies are telling us and we all too often become stuck in old mindsets. On autopilot, we tend to get lost in \u2018doing\u2019 so we find ourselves constantly striving and struggling and \u2018getting stuff done\u2019 instead of really living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is the time to focus on this skill, to gain control of our emotions, dull down the fear and find connection again to ourselves and to the nature we can see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mindfulness is a form of meditation, but what\u2019s great about it is that you can practice it any time of the day or night, no matter what you\u2019re doing. If we train ourselves to become more aware of the ordinary, life can very quickly become extraordinary. Mindful eating, mindful walking, mindful working, mindful talking, mindful living, extraordinary! This is how we fill our confidence tank with golden moments in life. They are around us every day, all day, and are mostly free. It is our distraction that robs us of the richness in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core of mindfulness and calm confidence is breathing. In life you breathe, but you forget that you are breathing. Conscious breathing is bringing your attention to the in and the out breath. Your body is in one place and your mind often in another, and the one action that will bring alignment back is the breath. It is your faithful friend in any given situation. It will slow you down and can even park that Ferrari racing around in your brain. Mindfulness of the breath is about selecting some part of the breath cycle and paying attention to it as fully as possible. There are many resources you can find to learn to breath and there are many different practices to expand your skills in this area – apps, breathing meditations, audio downloads and many books on the topic. To begin with, just start to notice your breath more regularly. Another powerful way to bring your attention into the moment is to focus on your five senses – your gateway to the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n