mindfulness Archives | Page 2 of 2

The Three Layers in Every Conversation

There is so much happening in every interaction that is beneath the surface. So often communication goes awry, because we are not consciously aware of what is truly being communicated in a conversation. Have you ever stopped to think about the many layers that exist in a conversation? Have you ever had an argument with someone and you just weren't really sure exactly where or why it turned ugly? Or maybe you walked away with a strange feeling after a conversation that you didn't feel during the conversation (like maybe you felt good during the conversation, but afterwards you're not quite sure it went as well as you thought it did?) If you want to be a better communicator, it is really important to be aware of the conversation you are having beneath the conversation. There is so much more being said than just words, and often the true statement a person is making is not even in the words. The three layers taking place in every conversation are: 1) Verbal 2) Body language 3) Intention

4 Ways to Cultivate Mindfulness

A new study by researchers Killingsworth and Gilbert at Harvard suggests what many human beings have known for thousands of years--mindfulness is the key to happiness! It turns out that it isn't what you're doing that determines your state of happiness--it's whether your mind is wandering or not. This makes a lot of sense. Happiness is not based on your external environment and what you're doing. It is based on your internal state, and a focused mind is a happy mind. The study by Killingsworth and Gilbert followed 2,250 volunteers at random intervals to look for correlations between what they were doing in the moment and how happy they were feeling. They found that people were happiest when having sex, exercising, or talking with others. All of these activities focus the mind on the present moment and keep it from wandering. They also found that people spend almost half of their waking hours (between 30 and 46.9% of the time) having thoughts that have nothing to do with what is happening in the present moment. Mind wandering during this time was found to be correlated with unhappiness It turns out that it isn't what you're doing that determines your state of happiness--it's whether your mind is wandering or not. This makes a lot of sense. Happiness is not based on your external environment and what you're doing. It is based on your internal state, and a focused mind is a happy mind.