Pagan Mindfulness: Solitary Suburban Pagan Guide, #3

By Ashlyn Hawthorne

Be Centered. Be Present. Be Aware.

 

These are skills needed in both life and magic. They are also skills that unfortunately, are often in short supply in our hectic world.

 

Pagan Mindfulness offers a clear, uncomplicated overview of basic mindfulness practices that walking you through the beginning steps needed to apply these techniques to your solitary pagan path.

 

This guide offers meditations, breathing practices, daily techniques and helpful suggestion on how to incorporate mindful awareness into your spiritual life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ashlyn Hawthorne
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201902612

Book preview

Pagan Mindfulness

a Solitary Surburban Pagan Guide

Ashlyn Hawthorne

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Copyright © 2021 by Ashlyn Hawthorne

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Ashlyn Hawthorne

[e-mail]

http://www.ashlynhawthorne.com/

Table of Contents

What is Mindfulness?

How to Practice

Types of Practice

Creating a Mindfulness Practice and Schedule

Formal Practice

Moments of Mindfulness

Mindful Breathing

Body Scan

Body Awareness Meditation

Listening Meditation

Meditation of the Mind

Present Moment Meditation

Walking Meditation

Informal Practice - Daily

Daily Mindfulness Reminders

Waking Up Mindful

Mindful Bathing

Mindful Eating

Mindful Housekeeping

Mindful Physical Exercise

Mindful Goodnight

Informal Practice - Connecting With Others

Mindful Listening

Mindful Speech

Expanding Mindful Connections

Informal Practice - Moods, Mind Traps, and Miscellanea

R.A.I.N.

Gift of Stillness

Calming Body and Mind

Negating Negativity

Positivity Practice

Pagan Mindfulness

Pagan Mindfulness – Intro

Pagan Mindfulness - Excercises

Ground and Center

Energy Shaping

Elemental Meditation

Drawing Down the Moon

Seasonal Energy Meditation

What is Mindfulness?

DEFINING MINDFULNESS

The definition of mindfulness varies slightly depending on the book, website, app, video, or teacher you consult.

Most of the time, though, it boils down to some variation of the following: 

Mindfulness is being fully present and in the moment, aware of yourself and your surroundings with non-judgment, acceptance, and compassion.

The common take away of beginners and casual students is the being fully present part.

And learning to be in the moment is vital to a successful mindfulness practice. Too often, we find ourselves playing out the future or chewing over the past instead of paying attention the present, as it is. And, while there are benefits to planning ahead and looking back, we, unfortunately, tend to get stuck there. We end up locked in an endless cycle of what-might-be and what-might-have-been. Usually, when we get stuck like that, it's not on the pleasant moments of the past or hopeful possibilities of the future.

It's on the mistakes and the fears and possible repercussions and all the ways things can go wrong. It becomes a spiral of negativity that has devastating consequences on our minds, our bodies, and our lives.

Being mindful is a powerful way to stop that cycle of anxiety and frustration and fear.

But focusing on the current moment and being fully present is only part of the mindfulness solution.

To truly experience the full benefits of a mindfulness practice, we must focus an equal amount of attention to the rest of the definition.

Mindfulness is being fully present and in the moment, aware of ourselves and our surroundings with non-judgment, acceptance, and compassion.

This second part is just as important as the first.

Many practitioners, teachers, and health experts believe that most of our mindfulness practice's effectiveness comes when we learn to view our thoughts and emotions and things that happen to us through a more even-handed lens.

Stepping back from the knee-jerk reactions and the labels and the habitual stories we tell ourselves lets us see these events more impartially. It allows us to be gentler with ourselves as well as others. This, in turn, decreases negative effects on our minds and bodies and leads to those more positive benefits.

BENEFITS of MINDFULNESS

So, just what are the benefits of mindfulness?

The practice of mindfulness touches every aspect of our lives.

Mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual.

The possible benefits are too numerous to count, but here is a short list of the highlights.

PAGAN MINDFULNESS

This book is titled Pagan Mindfulness, but the truth is, the way a pagan or Wiccan practices mindfulness is no different from anyone else.

It's more about how we apply mindfulness techniques to our personal path. How we use it to strengthen and deepen our individual spiritual connections.

In addition to the benefits mentioned previously, a few more particularly resonate with most pagans as integral parts of our path.

Most of us learn to be fully present during rituals, spells, and other important aspects and observances of our chosen path.

Many of us, struggle with