Mindfulness Practice Quotes

Injustice lives in the unquiet heart. ~ Nath Jones

Every moment nature is serving fresh dishes with the items of happiness. It is our choice to recognize and taste it. ~ Amit Ray

Equanimity can be hard to talk about. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Whether it is in your work, or your relationships, or your food choices, or your interaction with any part of nature, or anything that you think, speak, or do, mindfulness has the power to align you with expressing your highest Self, for your personal and our collective highest good.
Via mindfulness we can make the choices today, that will pre-pave the desired outcomes for all of our tomorrows. Via mindfulness we put ourselves in the flow of life, where life is no longer a series of "good" and "bad" moments, but about living with ease, contentment, wellbeing, and inner peace. Ultimately mindfulness requires action, with the first step being to make mindfulness a priority in your life. ~ Evita Ochel

Mindfulness practice can teach us about the nature of thinking, and perhaps even more importantly, it can teach us that we are not our thoughts. ~ Benjamin W. Decker

No connection is always easy or free of strife, no matter how many minutes a day we meditate. It's how we relate to conflict, as well as to our differing needs and expectations, that makes our relationships sustainable. ~ Sharon Salzberg

The secure attachment of Western psychology is actually akin to Buddhist non-attachment; avoid-ant attachment is the inverse of being mindful and present; and anxious attachment aligns with Buddhist notions of clinging and grasping. ~ Sharon Salzberg

So few people are really aware of their thoughts. Their minds run all over the place without their permission, and they go along for the ride unknowingly and without making a choice. ~ Thomas M. Sterner

When you can begin to see the similarities between you and your work colleagues in respect of 'being human' and the collective challenges we all face, it makes life much easier to deal with, especially when met with overbearing behaviour. ~ Christopher Dines

Things sometimes go our way and sometimes they don't. All we can do is apply ourselves to our profession, giving our very best effort but emotionally letting go of the outcome. Why? Because if we obsess about an outcome, we cannot possibly honour the present moment. ~ Christopher Dines

The study of modern mindfulness meditation and emotional intelligence is deeply rooted in the ancient Vipassana meditation techniques. ~ Amit Ray

You don't need to believe everything you think ~ Catherine Singer

We are, all of us, always only one breath or softening of our thought away from an invasion of divine wonder and fresh miracles. Soul waits for any small opening of our hearts to steal into everyday life. ~ Jacob Nordby

When we feel conflicted about a particular decision or action, our bodies often hold the answer - if we take the time to stop and tune in. ~ Sharon Salzberg

So, in meditation practice, the best way to get somewhere is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

We all spend so much time worrying about the future that the present moment slips right out of our hands. And so all we have left is retrospection and anticipation, retrospection and anticipation. In which case what's left to recall but past anticipation? What's left to anticipate but future retrospection? ~ David Leavitt

Some of us ran so far away, during a period of survival, that we forgot to come back home to ourselves. Return home to yourself. You are safe now. ~ Lalah Delia

Mindfulness is continuous undisturbed awareness of the present moment. Fully aware of here, and now, we pay attention to what is happening right in front of us, we set aside our mental and emotional baggage. To be mindful we have to re-train our mind. ~ Natasa Nuit Pantovic

Knowing what you are doing while you are doing it is the essence of mindfulness practice. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

We must not fall asleep in the present because the now moment is the only reality we truly have. ~ Kat Lahr

If we are with someone out of choice, we should act accordingly, and choose to communicate rather than deteriorate. ~ Lauren Klarfeld

Sympathetic joy is a practice. It takes time and effort to free ourselves of the scarcity story that most of us have learned along the way, the idea that happiness is a competition, and that someone else is grabbing all the joy. ~ Sharon Salzberg

We have nothing to fear from others because approval and acceptance lies within ourselves.

from Chapter 4 ~ Mare Chapman

Mindfulness gives freedom from negative and fixed mindset to positive and growth mindset. ~ Amit Ray

Concepts such as loving kindness should never be used as weapons against our real feelings. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

Embracing a healing presence requires you to just be in the moment together. ~ Nancy L. Kriseman

If we truly loved ourselves, we'd never harm another. That is a truly revolutionary, celebratory mode of self-care. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Meditation can be a refuge, but it is not a practice in which real life is ever excluded. The strength of mindfulness is that it enables us to hold difficult thoughts and feelings in a different way - with awareness, balance, and love ~ Sharon Salzberg

Vipassan meditation is the best way to unlearn old habits of basal ganglia and amygdala, and strengthen the neocortex of the brain. ~ Amit Ray

The incredible benefits of practising and applying mindfulness and self-compassion in the workplace are being increasingly recognised by human resource professionals as well as the medical profession, as the stresses of competing in today's global economy take their toll on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of many otherwise talented and enthusiastic individuals in the workplace. ~ Christopher Dines

Every footprint leaves its mark in the sands of life. Step by step, each one tells a story.Beat by beat, echo voices of the ancestors ~ Kokomon Clottey

Finding ways to protect yourself and promote your own well-being is the most basic investment you can make. [...] The foundation of your investment, the key to transforming your professional life, is mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the energy of attention. It is the capacity in each of us to be present one hundred percent to what is happening within and around us. It is the miracle that allows us to become fully alive in each moment. [...] The fruit of mindfulness practice is the realization that peace and joy are available within us and around us, right here and right now. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Create gaps between stimulus and reaction and the gap will show you the path. ~ Amit Ray

if we really look at our actions with eyes of love, we see that our lives can be more straightforward, simpler, less sculpted by regret and fear, more in alignment with our deepest values. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Many of us have been unconsciously programmed to treat walking as a means to an end, especially while in the workplace. Naturally, a lack of mindfulness while walking leaves one hostage to self-perpetuating stress and anxiety.
We rush (often while shouting into a mobile phone), completely missing the enjoyment of walking. Walking and breathing, if practised harmoniously, can be peaceful and thoroughly enjoyable. Even walking down a corridor or into an office or wherever we are working or being of service can be a harmonious action. ~ Christopher Dines

Mindfulness won't ensure you'll win an argument with your sister. Mindfulness won't enable you to bypass your feelings of anger or hurt either. But it may help you see the conflict in a new way, one that allows you to break through old patterns. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Mindfulness develops the ability to be a real friend to ourselves. ~ Mare Chapman

When I say 'practice' I don't mean
repeating an act until you get it right. In this use, it means to instill regular discipline to accomplish a specific task, ritual without which we feel incomplete, or that our experience of each day is less. ~ S. Kelley Harrell

Causing harm is never just a one-way street. ~ Sharon Salzberg

From a yogic perspective, good health starts within. All yogic practices help to keep your skin healthy and radiant.
The beauty industry spends a lot of money projecting a certain image of beauty that causes you to feel inadequate if you do not match up to this ideal.
From a yogic view you foster your inner beauty through the natural care of your body. The yogi sees their physical body as a temple that houses your soul. True beauty is the reflection of your inner self radiating and touching others ~ Ntathu Allen

Mindfulness removes the emotional fogs of negative thoughts with the light of awareness. ~ Amit Ray

A positive MIND is a solid WEAPON. ~ Henry Johnson Jr

If you can let go of fear and anger, you've already won. ~ Freequill

When engaging in simple everyday banter and communications, this rule of thumb can really help suppress a lot of our negative word 'vomit' since we often mindlessly chat about the things we don't like. If we refrain from expressing our negative opinions about things unless they're directly asked for, we can train ourselves to respond rather than react the second we see or hear something and then feel we must verbalize our views about it.

Remember, even if we don't agree with someone or something, we can still speak about the subject at hand in a positive light to encourage growth rather than guilty motivation. I like to say I express more "inspirations" than "opinions" with each passing day. ~ Alaric Hutchinson

we have a plastic brain that changes in response to our experience. It bears repeating: The brain doesn't tell us what to do; it is part of a system in which our life experience teaches our brain what to do. So you can practice mindfulness, will power, overcoming procrastination, and other healthy new skills with the confidence that you are changing your brain. Each day's practice does some good, and if you slip and fall off your diet or exercise program or mindfulness practice, all that you have learned before is not undone; it's still there in your brain waiting for you to get back in the saddle. ~ Richard O'Connor

Many caregivers share that they often feel alone, isolated, and unappreciated. Mindfulness can offer renewed hope for finding support and value for your role as a caregiver…It is an approach that everyone can use. It can help slow you down some so you can make the best possible decisions for your care recipient. It also helps bring more balance and ease while navigating the caregiving journey. ~ Nancy L. Kriseman

Through practising body scan awareness meditation, we can greatly reduce the detrimental effects of stress and make our working lives pleasant and enjoyable. ~ Christopher Dines

Now is the only moment I will ever have.
I want to spend the rest of my nows beside you. ~ Eric Overby

Like gratitude, authentic appreciation in the workplace is a realisation that can be nurtured and accessed with daily mindful practice.
By and large, people who are grateful, happy and enthusiastic are going to demonstrate better performance than those who are unhappy and unappreciative. There is increasing evidence that a grateful mindset amplifies happiness and mental and emotional wellbeing. ~ Christopher Dines

It's very important as a beginner that you understand right from the start that meditation is about befriending your thinking, about holding it gently in awareness, no matter what is on your mind in a particular moment. It is not about shutting off your thoughts or changing them in any way. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

You have the ability to control your thoughts. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

When the weeks have built up with frustration and immense stress and one of your co-workers, a manager or an employee triggers irritation or angers you, knowing how to respond in a mindful way can pay huge dividends. Knowing how to not take other people's emotional baggage personally and intuitively sensing when to bring up concerns and when not to is an expression of emotional intelligence. This is all possible if we are being truly mindful. ~ Christopher Dines

Remember, you are training your mind. You are either training to look for things to go wrong or you are training it to look for anything to go right. Train yourself to think only positive thoughts. ~ Karon Waddell

Attachment strangles freedom and clarity and makes us a puppet to our desires and cravings; attachment is the root of suffering, a root that if left unattended grows into a tree which drops the fruits of anger, greed, envy, dispersion, competitiveness, ego and pain ~ Evan Sutter

Whether someone is a CEO of a major corporation or is serving meals in a diner, failure to adopt a mindful approach will mean that mental and emotional exhaustion could become a habitual condition. Whether someone is stressed about their stocks losing value or being able to pay their bills, the internal underlying conditions of stress and pressure are essentially the same. ~ Christopher Dines

It is impossible to control outcomes or results, although most of us have been programmed from a very young age to believe otherwise. The idea that we can perform actual 'magic' causes tremendous dysfunction, unnecessary suffering and prevents the development of emotional resilience. ~ Christopher Dines

Isms' are described as transference of addictive patterns of dysfunctional behaviour, passed down from generation to generation. For instance, if a mother was an alcoholic who never made it into recovery, her behaviour would leave a mark on her children, husband, etc. Unless her adult children join some sort of recovery programme and adopt the mindfulness practice, they will have very similar behaviour traits to their mother but minus the alcohol abuse. There is a strong possibility that they will become codependent and form relationships with other codependents or alcoholics. ~ Christopher Dines

Morning Meditation

I used to rise early in meditation,
As the ancient saints and mystics,
Looking for peace, bliss, and ecstasy.

Now I awake as the sun rises.
I lie beside her,
Her head and the tops of her shoulders
Revealed from the top of the covers
Where we lay. Her face shines,
As the sun rolls through the bedroom
Curtains and leave her with a mandorla
As if she were the subject of iconography.

I lay in silence as I meditate on the artistry
Of freckles that are perfectly dotted
On her face and shoulders.
I venerate the delicate curvature
Of her lips and nose. Her eyes closed,
Veiled by a composition of lashes
That shroud the green mystery underneath.
As her hair lays dark and graceful
Across the pillows in front of me,
I lay in adoration,
and know there are none like her.

Moses was not even shown God's face,
Yet she has done me one better. ~ Eric Overby

To be self-compassionate is not to be self-indulgent or self-centred. A major component of self-compassion is to be kind to yourself. Treat yourself with love, care, dignity and make your wellbeing a priority. With self-compassion, we still hold ourselves accountable professionally and personally, but there are no toxic emotions inflicted upon and towards ourselves. ~ Christopher Dines

Conscious breathing anchors us into the nowness of life and gives us a fresh outlook, no different from how a baby observes reality without mental commentary. The baby enjoys watching the world and human activity without any limiting mental concepts spoiling his or her perception. Naturally, we all have to evolve from the helpless state of babyhood, but to be able to tap into that wonderful ability and truly BE in the moment is immensely liberating. ~ Christopher Dines

When walking, walk. When eating, eat. ~ Zen Proverb

The process of applying Mindfulness Burnout Prevention (MBP) in the workplace or any environment has a much more far-reaching effect than simply accessing equanimity throughout the vicissitudes of life. Continuous learning helps us to stay youthful, sharpen our mental faculties and wire new neural connections in our brain (making us better equipped to accomplish); it is also a sign of humility. ~ Christopher Dines

Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance. ~ Amit Ray

Deepening awareness and nonjudgmental acceptance of one's thoughts fosters a new relationship with them, creating the space to purposefully shift mental focus away from the ruminative thought patterns that pave the road to suffering. ~ Dan Mager

The divine is in the present and you must be present to experience it. When you vacate the present and recede into your mind, allowing worries or work to remove you from the moment, you leave the plain upon which the divine dwells.
When you are constantly under the anesthetic of digital distraction, you withdraw; you are no longer conscious, and therefore are in no fit state to commune with the sacred.
If you wish to hear the answers you seek, you must be present to hear them. If you wish to partake in the insights there to be known, you must be present to receive them. If you wish to know the divine, you must be present to meet it. ... you must be present. ~ L.M. Browning

What we learn in meditation, we can apply to all other realms of our lives. ~ Sharon Salzberg

You will find happiness when you are lost in the moment. ~ David Cuschieri

As in mindfulness practice, each moment of practicing awakened awareness offers a choice-point: Do I allow myself to become distracted and get seduced back into the drama? Or do I choose the openness, clarity, disidentification, and freedom that I discovered but keep forgetting? ~ Stephan Bodian

Mindfulness is the art of cosmic collaboration. ~ Amit Ray

Mindfulness practice begins to open up everything. We open our mind to memories, to emotions, to different sensations in the body. In meditation this happens in a very organic way, because we are not searching, we are not pulling or probing, we are just sitting and watching. ~ Joseph Goldstein

The skills available to us through mindfulness make it possible to bring love to our connections with others. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Stop over-thinking, put more energy on what you really want to do. ~ Amit Ray

In reality, love is fluid; it's a verb, not a noun. ~ Sharon Salzberg

If you want a totally doable, realistic way to bring mindfulness alive in your daily life -
waking up, working, relating, going to bed - The Mindful Day is a perfect guide. ~ Tara Brach

After several days, I had a pivotal interview with my teacher. When I described how I'd become so overwhelmed, she calmly asked, "How are you relating to the presence of desire?" I was startled into understanding. Her question pointed me back to the essence of mindfulness practice: It doesn't matter what is happening. What matters is how we are relating to our experience. For me, desire had become the enemy, and I was losing the battle. She advised me to stop fighting my experience and instead investigate the nature of my wanting mind. Desire was just another passing phenomenon, she reminded me. It was attachment or aversion to it that was the problem. ~ Tara Brach

Self-distancing is changing the perspective of life by observing inner feelings and experiences from distance with different angles, filters and lenses. ~ Amit Ray

When we do our best to treat others with kindness, it's often a struggle to determine which actions best express our love and care for ourselves. ~ Sharon Salzberg

The word 'pranayama', often referred to as alternate breathing, comes from the Sanskrit meaning 'extension of life force' or 'extension of breath'. At times, we are going to have days where we are bombarded with one task after another.

This simple yet effective meditation only takes a couple of minutes and its calming qualities can be felt almost immediately. It is one of the easiest meditation techniques to apply. This practice is well worth applying at least three or four times a day (somewhere private) to develop emotional balance and evenness of mind, especially in the working environment. ~ Christopher Dines

In every bend of time there is some surprise, joy and beauty. Mindfulness is the light to discover it. ~ Amit Ray

Reactions come from the mind, responses come from the heart. ~ Joseph Meyering Sr

You are a miracle. Remind yourself often. ~ Charnita Arora

The overarching practice of letting go is also one of gaining resilience and insight. ~ Sharon Salzberg

The human brain is incredible in its capacity to heal and rewire itself. The human brain can be shaped and trained to be more resilient, calm, compassionate and alert - we can condition ourselves to be successful. Through mindfulness meditation, we can literally re-wire our brains through new experiences, which modify our neural network and our neural chemistry. Mindfulness also enhances gamma synchrony and improves the function of the human brain. ~ Christopher Dines

In this world, we are surrounded by fast-paced, empty static energy. They're like the empty calories of the soul. You have empty calories for your body, like a bag of potato chips for example, then you have empty calories for your soul, which are found in the static energy that doesn't really add to our emotional, spiritual, mental experience of living our lives. We have magical moments of connection with people, with nature, with Spirit, but then we rush out of those moments all too fast, in order to go straight back into the busy lanes that are full of things not worthwhile! Empty energies! So when we do that, we forget our magical, nourishing soul moments all too fast and we start caring about things that we shouldn't care about too much, stepping outside of the moments of eternity that we encounter, and going back into the empty noise. So I think that we need to picture ourselves as rocks in the river; we can let all of that rush by us, while we stay fortified where we are, lingering in the warmness of the noontime sun, the chill of the dawn , the reflections of dusk - like a rock in a river - let it all just rush by. Be magic. ~ C. JoyBell C.

I pray as part of my mindfulness practice and try to recount my day, all my triumphs and foibles, before I go to sleep at night. These practices keep me calm for the most part. ~ Emily Saliers

Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now. ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

The mind is just like a muscle - the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets and the more it can expand. ~ Idowu Koyenikan

First and foremost, if we maintain healthy emotional boundaries and direct love and kindness inwards, we are taking care of ourselves and secondly we are giving a subliminal message to others about how we wish to be treated. People tend to subconsciously treat us how we treat ourselves. ~ Christopher Dines

Conscience is the parliament in our mind. It depends on who holds the majority ~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

You are not your thoughts; you are the observer of your thoughts. ~ Amit Ray

Meditation provides the tools not only to abide more comfortably in the present, but also to observe rather than engage with unhappiness-creating thoughts. ~ David Michie

The more we practice sympathetic joy, the more we come to realize that the happiness we share with others is inseparable from our own happiness. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Mindful living is a conscious way of living – noticing the beauty of life in every moment. ~ Amit Ray

As you will see, mindfulness practice does not need to be another "add-on." Its beauty lies in the fact that it can be fully and easily integrated into every act of our daily living, reminding us to live the present moment fully. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Stress, burnout and strain on the human heart are all increasingly taking their toll for millions of hardworking people. However, even someone who is working in a job that simply 'pays the bills' can turn mundane and stressful tasks into pleasant activities with a slight adjustment in attitude and by adopting a daily mindful practice. ~ Christopher Dines

The Five A's (attention, appreciation, acceptance, affection, allowing) are simultaneously the fulfillment of our earliest needs, the requirements of adult intimacy and of universal compassion, and the essential qualities of mindfulness practice. ~ David Richo

Meditative thoughts assist people escape a vapid fantasy life and reconnect with ultimate reality. ~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Abhinavagupta does not prescribe a hermit's life for that Shiva yogin, who is free to live without restrictions, to remain in the household, and to participate in pleasures of the senses and the mind within the limits of the currently acceptable social standards. In other words, one is free to live a normal life and at the same time to pursue some method of Trika yoga. As soon as the seeker's practice in yoga yields the experience of Self-bliss, worldly enjoyments automatically lose their power and fascination, and one's senses develop a spontaneous indifference, known as anadaravirakti, to former pleasures. Once seekers have become expert practitioners in the experience of Self-bliss, they are able to move freely through worldly enjoyments without any fear of spiritual pollution. Such enjoyments can actually serve to further illumine the extraordinary experience of Self-bliss. As Abhinavagupta explains:

The mind (of a Shiva yogin) does not become wet (or stained) from within, just like the rind of a dried gourd which has no opening, even if it dives deep into the water of sensual pleasures. ~ Balajinnatha Pandita

The fact is ... our doors have not exactly been knocked down by companies willing to defend Microsoft's business practices. ~ Orrin Hatch