How to Fully Experience the Gift of Life

How to Fully Experience the Gift of Life : A family crisis led me on a two-decades-long spiritual journey that led me to become a Life Coach and a Mindfulness teacher. I lost two of my siblings, Esty and Daniel, and I feel that they’re my guardian angels. My work is inspired by both of them, and so much of what I teach others is what I learned from losing them. Their lives enriched my own, and their deaths helped me to be who I am today.
Now my life’s purpose is to help people overcome limited thoughts and beliefs, as well as integrate Mindfulness and meditation into their lives. A Mindfulness practice enables people to more fully and authentically experience the precious gift of life.

For many people, their default is to focus on problems. Even at times when they receive a flood of accolades, the one negative comment becomes the one that they fixate upon. Researchers refer to this phenomenon as negativity bias.

While the focus on the negative once played a part in human survival — keeping us highly attuned so we could respond to danger or threats — in today’s world, we’re much better off giving short shrift to our negativity bias. Paying too much attention to negative experiences from the past or that we anticipate happening in the future can keep us from taking risks, pursuing our dreams, having an intimate relationship, or living life to its fullest.

A daily Mindfulness practice will help to break away from the spiral of negative thoughts that tend to swirl in our heads. Among the many extraordinary benefits Mindfulness brings into our lives is its ability to allow us to let go of emotional reactions so we can be more open to new experiences.

With Mindfulness, we’re able to rein in our busy minds and step into the present moment. A daily practice can start with sitting quietly and stilling the mind by focusing on the breath. We start to transcend limited thoughts and beliefs, and delve into the quietude. Mindfulness opens our minds so that we can see with total awareness. In this pure state of mind, we unveil a higher level of consciousness that lets us participate in life as more thoughtful, sensitive and attuned human beings.

Here are some ways that Mindfulness will enable you to experience the true gift of life:

Connect to present-moment awareness.

The more present you are, the more aware you are, and the more aware you are, the more present you are. It keeps evolving from there. When practiced consistently, Mindfulness will sharpen your awareness so that you can see beyond the surface.
Use setbacks as a chance to reset.

Our emphasis on negativity stems from our fears — of failure, of not being good enough, of disappointing others, of loss. But failures, disappointments and loss can actually provide insights into new approaches to explore or better directions to take. Mindfully reset your compass using all that you’ve learned from the mistake or misfortune.
Strive to engage in more conscious knowing.

Mindfulness is a mental state of being conscious and aware. It helps you find union in reality, free of illusion. Don’t you want to know what this life, this reality, truly is? It can’t possibly be just what’s on the surface. Remaining on the exterior is like living outside of a magnificent palace and never getting to go inside.

I feel passionate about helping others be the very best they can be, and I believe that Mindfulness is one of the greatest inherent abilities that we have. Through the expanded awareness that Mindfulness provides, I believe that we can change negative-based thinking and awaken to the reality of the incredible gift we’ve been given to direct our lives in the most positive way possible.

Author:

Ora Nadrich is founder and president of the Institute for Transformational Thinking and author of Live True: A Mindfulness Guide to Authenticity, named among the “top 18 books on what an authentic life looks like” by PositivePsychology and “one of the 100 Best Mindfulness Books of All Time” by BookAuthority. She is a certified life coach and Mindfulness teacher, specializing in transformational thinking, self-discovery and mentoring new coaches. Her new book is Mindfulness and Mysticism: Connecting Present Moment Awareness with Higher States of Consciousness.
Contact her at oranadrich.com.