Written by: Jules Francis, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
How often do you go about your day and stop to appreciate the present moment?
Taking that time to deeply listen to the person talking in front of you, or really notice the smaller details of what you are surrounded by right now, or really feel what emotion you are feeling, is so easily forgotten.
I’m sure you would agree that it is easy to ignore these things, suppress a feeling or push aside a thought. Yet it is also so simple to bring it back – just by having awareness and remembering to breathe.
As I write this article, it marks 5 days after the passing of Thich Nhat Hanh, or ‘Thay’ as he was affectionately known. If you are not familiar with Thay, he was known as the father of mindfulness and one of the world's most influential zen masters, peace activist, author, poet and founder of Plum Village.
A few days before Thay passed away my 10-year-old daughter Kyra was given an assignment at school to make a collage of someone who has inspired her in life. She chose Thay.
Kyra first met Thay when she was 6 months old – I took her on a retreat to Plum Village in France and I watched in awe as she soaked up the energy of the monastics and calmly took it all in her stride.
Being in the presence of Thay and the monastics throughout her life has had a great effect on Kyra. She has naturally adopted mindfulness practices in her life, and at an early stage has become aware of her emotions and her connection to spirit.
Two days after Kyra made this collage, Thay passed away.
I believe whoever we are and at any age, we all have the ability to be more mindful – whilst cleaning our teeth, walking round the block, taking a shower – things we all do every day are opportunities to come back to the present moment.
I often hear how my clients don’t know when to switch on the stop button when eating or drinking and one of the first things I remind them of is to introduce mindfulness to their meals, or snacks.
The first step to doing this is to remember that you have a body and that your body is a wonder.
Say hello to it – tell it you are here.
When you appreciate the beauty that surrounds you and allow yourself to be nourished by feelings of joy and happiness and not nourished solely by food, you gain a deeper understanding of the body and mind that you are feeding.
This is also the first step in loving yourself.
The knock-on effect to loving yourself is to make not only good, but great choices for your body in the knowledge that it is the only physical body you have and therefore, it is very valuable.
If you feel you might have taken your body for granted, now is the time to change that.
The second step is to recognise that your body is a wonder. Whatever it is that you are doing, if you have forgotten about your body even for a moment, you are not valuing it.
Do you have the capacity to appreciate the wonder that is your body.
The third step is to then listen to its needs deeply. Is yours feeling full? Lacking in vital energy? Screaming in pain? It’s time to respond.
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Jules Francis, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Jules Francis is the go-to-expert for career-driven women who are looking to transform their relationship with food.
She has helped hundreds of people from all walks of life to help them understand the underlying causes of why they have unhealthy eating behaviours.
With three decades of experience, Jules has the insight and experience to see what truly underpins low confidence and how people often choose compensating behaviours to deal with it.
Jules is a multi-award-winning health coach, co-author of 2 best-selling books and creator of 2 online courses, The Food Breakthrough Academy and The Reset Button.
