Today I tried something different. I went for a guided mindfulness walk at the nearby Wetlands led by the lovely Liz Keats. The reason I thought I’d share this with you is that I think mindfulness is intrinsically linked to self awareness.
You’ll already know that my view of self awareness has three elements: awareness of self, awareness of self in the company of others and ability to reflect and regulate the impact of self on others. Mindfulness really seems to help you be aware of yourself on a very fundamental level, from breathing to moving, seeing, hearing and feeling. In my model of self awareness you have to be aware of self before you can begin to understand and appreciate the other two elements of self awareness. Yet, we’re often so very focused on elements two and three that we forget about number one!
Today’s walk was a really grounding experience and reminded me to be aware of self not only in relation to other human beings but also the elements. We’re all cutely aware that we feel gloomy on a grey day and cheery in the sunshine. We should remember that the impact the environment has on us radiates out to others through our behaviour.
I enjoyed today’s walk and was reminded that we should be more in tune and appreciative of the beauty of the elements rather than frustrated by them for making our hair untidy on a windy day and our shoes wet in the rain. We need to be more ‘mindful’, as a way of being a calmer and more in tune self than ‘mind full’, making our ability to recognise and change our impact on others that much more difficult.
If you get a chance, try mindfulness outside. You’ll reap the benefits and you’ll become more aware of yourself which will inevitably impact your own wellbeing and relationships with others
Happy Sunday!