Article

Sense of Connectedness and Mindfulness

Author
admin
Date
2022-01-05 16:15
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4599
The long, grey winter passes, and the green spring where the flowers bloom and the birds sing is approaching. In May, the lively queen of the season, let's take a moment to breathe for a healthy and happy life that we all hope for. Let's think about how we are communicating with ourselves and how we are connected to people around us, before we run into the plains and mountains that lie ahead of us.

People do not want to be cut, separated, and isolated. Rather, they are afraid of it, and sometimes their obsession over not wanting to be disconnected debilitates healthy relationships. How can we live a happy life without being disconnected from ourselves and others? Let's ask these questions first.

How well do I communicate with my body? How well do I hear my inner voice? How do you think I am connected to people around me? Separation (isolation), which increases morbidity and mortality, begins within our own. The most fundamental and habitual separation is the separation of body and mind. We live caught up in our thoughts rather than to listen to what our body has to say in our daily lives. We turn on the switch that makes our bodies move like automatic machines, and our minds always wander around elsewhere, searching for "what to do" or checking "what is wrong" without even noticing them. This can be said to be a psychological phenomenon due to the desires of human being, survival, safety, belonging, self- esteem, and growth desires. However, this habitual and automatic way of life (Automatic Pilot) causes the separation of body and mind, separation from neighbor.

How can we live building healthy relationships with people around us while we are deeply connected with our body, mind, and spirit? One solution might be a mindfulness technique, which is a disciplined attitude to focus on one object at the moment (e.g. breathing, body sensation) without any specific intention. Mindfulness is an important technique for promoting mental and physical health and is widely used not only in Canada but also worldwide. From a certain point of view, the mindfulness training, which is also referred to as attention training, is very simple. However, mindfulness training is effective not only in improving the ability to concentrate, but it is also effective in assisting the treatment of depression, anxiety, anger, addiction, eating disorders, chronic pain, and insomnia. The fact that mindfulness training is effective in improving the quality of life is no longer in question.

Mindfulness training calms our busy minds that are like bees that fly around to gather honey from flowers with barely any rest. Let's pause at this moment from reading this article and check whether "Is my mind here now?," or "Am I busy with wandering around elsewhere (past or future) unintentionally?". Then, let's concentrate on the sensation of our own chest while taking a breath. As our bodies and minds spend more time in sync with each other through this training, our bustling minds calm down, the ups and downs of our emotions become less frequent, and the understanding of our own selves expand.

As long as there is a large anchor deeply bounded in the sea, a boat is able to fish and fill up the boat with fish without being swayed back and forth by the rough ocean. Likewise, if we can securely anchor our minds to our breaths here now, we will be able to live a peaceful and rich life in this bustling world, connected with our body, mind, sprit, and neighbors.

Miae Jeon

Board Member at FUTFS

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Welcome to FUTFS, a Toronto Korean Community. FUTFS is a Korean-Canadian community that has been operating in Toronto for over 20 years, providing counseling and outreach services, and providing various educational programs and services for seniors, adults, and youth. In addition to free training, there are also many events. We appreciate your participation.

Please check our free programs and services at www.futfs.org
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