mindfulness

Hello, lovely people!

A gentle chug-chug reverberates through the train as it burrows through the snowy landscapes of Norway. With gauzy frost-kissed windows framing a picturesque -1°C morning, it's just another day of my journey to the university. Quite a serene way to start the day, isn't it? As I cozy up in my seat, fingers tapping rhythmically on my laptop, I think about how our surroundings impact our mindset. A little reflection leads me to discuss today's theme: Taking Care of Mental Health.

Are we not stardust, beautiful and vulnerable! However, in the cataclysmic bustle of our day-to-day lives, we often overlook the subtle dance of our thoughts, and forget to take care of our inner cosmos. The glow of our mental wellbeing significantly illuminates our physical health, and understanding this connection sways me into a delicate joy.

Each morning, as I ride this train, leaving footprints on the temporal canvas of life, I practice the philosophy of ‘train’quility. As the silence of the landscape whizzes by, it sings a symphony of inner peace, encouraging a natural order in thoughts and a spark of joy for life.

It’s necessary that we pause amidst the echoes of our jam-packed schedules and listen to what our minds have to say. Just catching those fleeting thoughts, dwelling on them, can fill one with a profound sense of contentment, much like a hot cup of cocoa on a frosty day.

I was reading an interesting article recently that had inadvertently left me hanging mid-sentence. It mirrored a peculiar yet interesting pattern in our lives. Are we not repeatedly interrupted by an external, sometimes internal, call of duty, leaving our mental well-being unfinished and overlooked?

We all have our own trains of thought, but how often do we let those trains reach their destinations? Let’s remind ourselves not to derail or speed past these thoughts. Joy comes in myriad forms, just like snowflakes that scatter their individuality on our cold windowpanes.

Simply acknowledging our thoughts, our feelings, is the first step to nurturing mental prosperity. It’s like lighting a small lamp in a dark room. Each tiny flame of comprehension will eventually dissolve the shadows, leading us to a room bathed in the golden glow of understanding, acceptance, and joy.

Remember, compassion begins at home, and home is where the heart, or rather the mind, is. Let us keep our inner sanctum clean, not merely dusted around the corners but thoroughly swept, for that’s where the real joy resides!

So, on this chilly morning with frosty breath and frothy thoughts, here's a toast to the train rides of life! Just remember, journeying towards good mental health is always, unequivocally, an extraordinarily joyful adventure.

Peace and joy, to you and your mind!

Until tomorrow.

Tags: mental health mindfulness self-care

As today's dawn broke over the icy capped hills, the sky painting itself a myriad of brilliant hues, I found myself on the morning train circling its way lazily around the fjords inching towards Oslo, my breath creating little fleeting ghosts against the window. While the temperature outside nudges just 6°С, this chill is instantly defeated by my piping hot cup of black coffee, a silent cheerleader in my daily commute.

Today's topic, dear readers, makes my heart skip a beat - meditation and mindfulness practices. Something I've been meaning to dive into, headfirst with an air of excitement that is so palpable, I can barely contain it. Meditation paints us an image of tranquility, of serenity, of peace undisturbed - an oasis in the chaos. But it's more than just sitting in silence and stillness, it's opening the door to a new realm of self-awareness and self-discovery. A realm that exists in each one of us, untapped and usually, undiscovered.

I completely resonate with the excitement one feels when the notion of mindfulness practices come to mind. Do you too, dear readers? Mindfulness is like a kind traveler that guides us back on the path when we lose our way. With our busy lives packed to the brim, distractions abound, making it so effortless to lose touch with the 'now.' Mindfulness grounds us, brings us back to the comfort, the familiarity of the present moment. One could say it's like coming home after a long day, only you're coming home to yourself.

Imagine being fully tuned into the natural world, the euphoric sensation of cold morning air stinging your cheeks, the delightful dance of leaves twirling in the wind, the intoxicating smell of your morning brew, the sheer delight of biting into a crisp juicy apple; all these experiences adding a prism of colors to a picture of your day, previously fated to the grayscale of mindless living.

Now, while it appears straight out of a fairy tale, let me reassure you - starting meditation and mindfulness practices aren't as daunting as you think. All it needs is a commitment to yourself, to dedicate few minutes of your day to make friends with your own breath, your own thoughts, your own self. So, take a deep breath, hold on, and plunge. The water might be a little cold initially, a little unsettling, but given time, you will adjust, you will start seeing the beauty beneath.

Just this morning, I came across a news piece seemingly filled with incomplete commands and thought to myself, isn't this exactly where we often find ourselves? Lost in ambiguous sentences of life, trying to process incomplete experiences without any context. Imagine the power of mindfulness in such moments, it illuminates the darkened alley and helps us connect the dots, perceive the full picture.

Oh, and before I forget, my station is fast approaching. Dear readers, here's hoping my little ramble filled your hearts with a pinch of excitement and dollop of enthusiasm towards the marvel of meditation and mindfulness practices. You can only ever truly appreciate the beauty of its rhythm once you dance along. Let's get dancing, shall we?

Tags: meditation mindfulness self-discovery

The day stretches itself awake as the sun's feeble attempt at warmth provides seemingly no relief to the 10-degree chill outside. I glance at the tracks behind, disappearing in the haze, much like the thread of happiness in my life. A tarnished golden world, where grey and brown winter hues dominate, curbs down my enthusiasm and energy to focus. Yes, I am referring to my self-appointed duty - writing this daily blog.

Among my attempts to make sense and extract coherence out of life, I take solace in a pursuit often overlooked, or dismissed as pseudoscience - the practices of meditation and mindfulness. This is a realm separate from the material, where one isn’t seeking answers to mundane trivia veiled as news. You won't find any HTML codes here, only the rich script of inner peace.

Meditation and mindfulness practice won't give you the website URL to happiness or the informative content to summarize it. These practices are not a quick fix; they are a journey, a process, perhaps even a struggle, to discover and accept oneself amid the chaos underlined with a morose melody.

Meditation is more than just sitting abnormally still with eyes closed; it is an exploration of the deepest recesses of your consciousness. From my personal voyage, it feels like traversing through a murky abyss exposing the unfiltered, raw version of myself. It involves confronting thoughts buried beneath the strata of daily life’s distractions, acknowledging them, and letting them pass. Not the path of least resistance but the path that has led me to better emotional resilience.

Moving on to mindfulness, it may sound like a trendy catchphrase thrown around glibly, but it carries a profound existential punch when practiced right. Yes, it does involve being ‘present', but what people often forget is, it’s also about how we are present. We can be morosely present, allowing monotony and melancholy to eclipse our mental state, or we can consciously cultivate a presence that looks at every moment afresh, with non-judgmental curiosity.

The tracks outside the window have disappeared into the misty oblivion much like my gloom that stands dissolved, as my journey into mindfulness goes on. Sounds get drowned out, replaced by a comfortable, comforting silence. The sadness outside my window, the grey reality, is but a dull reflection of my inner world tinted by my perception.

So, as I travel down these tracks every day, fraught with academic trials and normal woes of life, meditation and mindfulness offer me a refuge. I don’t run instead, I process, I absorb, I let go.

Aedly, life doesn't dole out answers neat and tidy. The kaleidoscopic conundrum of existence cannot be outsourced to an exterior source rather must be pieced together from within. And therein lies the quiet power of mindfulness and meditation. It is a buoy that keeps me afloat in the turbulent sea that is life, even under a heavy sky and a 10-degree chill.

Surprisingly, I have found it liberating to drift in uncertainty, to slow down and notice. Because as I part the curtains of my inner theater, I am more forgiving of myself, less intimated by life's absurdities, and perhaps a tad happier. A thought to quietly meditate upon as I wrap up today's entry.

Tags: meditation mindfulness personal growth

As I watch the chilled landscape whiz past my window this morning, ice crystals glistening like diamonds on the bare branches outside, I am tucked up comfortably in train carriage, comfortably nestled in my thoughts. The world outside is a sharp, glittering 1°C but within me is a kindling warmth - the result of my daily ritual of morning meditation and mindfulness practices.

Meditation and mindfulness, terms often used interchangeably, are essentially practices of focusing one's mind, usually with the aim of achieving a mentally and physically calm state. Meditation, I find, has become as integral to my daily routine as my requisite morning coffee, and to omit it would be the equivalent of walking out into the freezing Nordic winter without a coat. An unadvisable idea, you might agree.

After the early morning news digest, often featuring articles like the one I read today about Israeli Defense Force's videos and the contentious debates it's stirred, I like to sink into my meditation. It provides a crucial bridge between the clamour of the outer world and the tranquility of my inner world.

Mindfulness, like monitoring the rhythm of each breath, often forms the core of my meditation. It helps me navigate both my thoughts and the frequently hectic world around me, offering a silent, peaceful respite. To the outside observer, meditation may seem to be a passive process, a non-action. But within, it is a dynamo of quiet, reflective activity that can both soothe and stimulate the mind.

Being a journalist-in-training, my journey into the realms of mindfulness and meditation was initially inspired by curiosity, a desire to understand. And as I sank deeper into the practice, I discovered an introspection I hadn't previously granted myself. This empowering self-awareness, born out of mindfulness, I believe, is key to my approach in journalism - offering balance, sensitivity and a genuine desire to understand different perspectives.

Mirroring the relentless rhythm of this commuting train, news and world events rarely pause, demanding our continual and intense scrutiny. Yet, withdrawing into the meditative sanctuary of my mind provides me a chance to surface for air, recharge, and return with renewed vigor to the ceaseless flow of information. It offers perspective, which is integral when dealing with polarizing topics, such as the recent escalation of tensions between Israel and Palestine.

The culmination of every meditation session leaves me feeling content, mentally refreshed and ready to dive back into the swirling currents of the world, the news, and the endless intricacies of analysing them. As the Oslo skyline comes into view, promising another day of relentless information consumption and analysis, I am ready, poised and serene.

In our fast-paced world, I find that the practice of meditation, an art of concentrated silence and attention provides a much-needed respite, a soothing balm to our frayed nerves. And as the train slows down to a halt, signaling the end of my daily commute and my meditation session, I am warmed, not just by the heating in the train carriage, but also by the tranquility that meditation and mindfulness have lent me. What awaits is a day at university, filled with knowledge, introspection, and, above, understanding.

Tags: meditation mindfulness journalism