Hello KSKOers!
I’m delighted to introduce to you Sonaakshi Sinha Jamwal and Tuğba Avci. We’re all a part of the wonderful community led by the inspirational Lucy Werner. We got talking and realised that we had a common interest in mindfulness. I asked Sonaakshi and Tuğba to share their thoughts, ideas and advice with us to help smash the scepticism around mindfulness. We’ve developed 10 tips to help you incorporate mindfulness for a better working day.
We’re looking forward to having you on our learning journey!
One of the simplest and most accessible ways to develop self-awareness is to practice a little bit of mindfulness. How to develop self-awareness is a question I’m often asked. If you’re new to the practice of self-reflection, mindfulness is an excellent place to start. It can help you tap into the pace of your breathing and the rhythm of your heartbeat – which impacts your physiology and your behaviour.
Who’s Who?
Sonaakshi: is a mindfulness practitioner and graphic designer dedicated to helping others find peace and balance. Her curiosity and some hard-hitting incidents in life led her towards a journey of self-discovery and transformation. By sharing her journey with others, she hopes to make a positive impact, and encourage others to embrace mindfulness so they can live a more harmonious and fulfilling life. Sonaakshi writes Zingy Zen
Tuğba: is a Turkish-Greek artist living in Berlin. Balancing the demands of her work week at a tech company with her passion for creating art is a constant challenge. Disconnecting from the fast pace of corporate life and the numerous distractions to fully focus on writing or working on ceramics requires a mindful and deliberate shift in mindset. Her blog, As Slow as Possible explores the often-overlooked in-between spaces of our lives. She completed a two-year Mindfulness Teacher Training with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach.
Nia: When people ask me how they can develop their self-awareness, I suggest that mindfulness and meditation is a great way to tune in to their breath and heartbeat, especially if they’re new to self-awareness. What are your thoughts on mindfulness as a way of developing self-awareness?
Sonaakshi: I have been practising mindfulness for over six years now and spent hundreds of hours doing meditation. Nothing has helped me more to know myself better. By introspecting, meditating, and doing regular body scans, one can understand their mental and physical states better.
Tugba: Most of us tend to live our lives on autopilot. We hardly ever take the time to explore our inner world. Being aware daily and engaging in meditation sometimes feels like waking up from a deep sleep. Observing our thoughts and feelings can make us more self-aware of our inner world. All we have to do is observe. My meditation teacher, Upul, used to say, “Be an outsider if you want to change the inside. You need to become an observer, not a controller, not a producer, not a director, but a spectator.”
Nia: Using three words, describe what mindfulness is:
Sonaakshi: “Gratitude, Calmness and Awareness.”
Tugba: “Clarity, Presence, Spaciousness.”
Nia: In episode 45 of The Knowing Self Knowing Others Podcast, I spoke to Anna Zannides about mindfulness and she raised concerns that people were focusing on the shiny part of mindfulness for relaxation and missing the more fundamental learning and self-awareness that comes from really understanding mindfulness. What do you think about how mindfulness is used, promoted and marketed in the modern age?
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