Are You Being Mindful or Mind Full?

“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow:

our life is the creation of our mind.”

–The Dhammapada      

This year I will TELL A NEW STORY…because I said I would.

This is what I told my intenSati class today. That’s my promise for this next year. But that promise starts right now. In order to have the #bestyearever I have to have the #bestdayever. And, in order to have the best day ever, I have to intend how I want that day to unfold. I have to make a promise to myself about how I am going to show up, how I want to feel, or what story I am going to tell. And then I must follow through with it no matter what. Simply because I said I would. Simply because I value myself and the power of my words. Because what I say matters.

Having the best day ever and making a promise is an every day act of love. It’s moment by moment living. And each one of those moments make up our day. Those days make up our week. Those weeks make up a month and those months comprise 2014. We have the opportunity each moment to have a new beginning. We have the opportunity every day to CHOOSE what we think, say and do. Having the best day ever or keeping our promise happens through mindfulness.

We can be mindful. Or we can be Mind Full. We can never be both at the same time.

Sati means mindfulness and when we are mindful and Sati-like, we are harnessing our attention on what it is we want: how it is we want to feel, what goals we want to achieve, what dreams we desire. But, when we are Mind Full we are full of  our habitual negative beliefs. When we are Mind Full we operate from our subconscious mind. Our subconscious mind operates 95% of the time and those habitual negative beliefs kick in any time we’re not focusing our attention on positive thoughts. This month I’m reading Lissa Rankin’s book, Mind Over Medicine, and it’s a powerful testament to the power of our minds. Change your thoughts, change your behaviors. Change your behaviors, change your biochemistry and your life. In other words, we create our life–our actions and even our cellular activity–based out of whatever mindset we are in: mindful or Mind Full. Rankin writes,

“The power of the subconscious mind explains why positive thinking only gets you so far. How many times have you read self-help books, taken workshops, made New Year’s resolutions, and vowed to improve your life, only to realize a year later that your life is no better? Since the conscious mind is only functioning 5 percent of the time, it has little power to overcome the weighty influence of the subconscious mind. To effect lasting changes in belief, you must change your beliefs not just at the level of the conscious mind, but the subconscious mind.”

The last line of what Rankin writes is vital. To effect lasting changes, it’s not simply about chanting positive affirmations for an hour a week (though it will help). It’s not simply about being hopeful here and there (though that will help too). It’s about who we are CHOOSING to be in EACH moment. It’s about keeping our promise for the day because we said we would. It’s intending the best day ever by showing UP and doing what we said we would. So before you think you’re doomed to whatever conditioned thoughts you don’t know you have, understand YOU have a CHOICE. Yes, YOU! We all do. Every moment is a new beginning, slightly different than the one before and slightly different than the next. Every moment is our opportunity to be mindful.

New beginnings require mindfulness. Whether we are creating a new habit, intending a New Year, or simply wanting something different than we ever have before, we have to be mindful in the midst of change, fear and adversity. Sati Sundays is officially added onto the Weston Fitness calendar and that’s a huge new beginning for me. It’s also scary. I’m terrified I won’t be able to build a community like I did at Athleta, where I previously taught. I’m fearful that I don’t have ‘what it takes’ to be at a “real gym” teaching this particular class. Perhaps the biggest new beginning in my life is stepping out of a relationship I’ve been in for 12 years. In December, I signed divorce papers and though it was amicable and we collectively decided that this was the best course of action for everyone involved, it was and is hard. Not to mention scary. As much as I want to be free, I’m terrified of being on my own. I don’t know what to do or how to do it. But, this is where mindfulness comes in. I have come to realize over the past week that I don’t have to have it ‘all figured out.’ You don’t have to either. It’s not about operating from a game plan as much as it is operating from a moment. Will be it scary sometimes? Hell yes. Will it be SO worth it? Absolutely.

The most important story we can tell, is the story we tell ourselves. And, we always get to tell a new story because we always get to choose what it is we think, say and do. This year I will TELL A NEW STORY. I will be mindful of what story I’m telling or retelling. If it’s a story that is not aligned with who I want to be, I will tell a new story and continue to tell that story until it becomes a new belief.

What new story do you want to tell today? Choose to rewrite it. How do you intend for your day to unfold? Be it. What promise are you willing to make?

Do it simply because you said you would.

Join me in being a powerful force for positive change. Join the #promisechallenge and make this the #bestyearever by having the #bestdayever …because you said you would.