National Look Up at the Sky Day is on April 14th. When was the last time you stopped and looked up at the sky?
Did you know that a cloud can weigh approximately 1.1 million pounds? How about that the color of a star depends on its temperature? The sky is fascinating, yet we hardly even notice it. Well, April 14th is an opportunity to change that.
1. Look Up At The Sky Day
Although the history behind National Look Up at the Sky Day is rather vague, some believe it started in honor of a former Boston newsman who quit his day job after looking at the sky for what he said to be the first time. Jack Borden wanted others to see what he saw that day and founded a nonprofit For Spacious Skies in the 1980s. The organization focuses on teaching children and adults to live in the moment rather than passing through life without noticing nature’s beauty. According to a Harvard study, students who are more aware of the sky are the ones that excelled in reading, writing, music, and visual arts.
The "trend" of looking at the sky for 'guidelines' isn't new. Sailors used stars to navigate while the sun was their only instrument to tell the time. National Look Up at the Sky Day merely helps us remember to look at the beauty and magic we are blessed to be surrounded by every day. Borden believed that the more we take note, the more we get to appreciate it.
There are so many reasons to love this day, from remembering to take a break, take a breath and look up in the sky to calm our minds. What happens is that we get to realize that our problems are tiny, as are we in comparison to all that magnificence, so the best we can do is just enjoy some of the most beautiful sights that Mother Nature provides us with so abundantly every day.
2. What Is Mindfulness and Why Is It Important ?
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, which means being aware of where we are and what we are doing. Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. There’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodeling the physical structure of your brain. Mindfulness helps us get in tune into the flow of life that we often take for granted and let it pass by without us even noticing.
The best part is that mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditation or just by taking the time to breathe consciously.
Mindfulness helps us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our conditioned responses and preventing us from doing something we often regret. More and more research is legitimizing the practice, demonstrating that mindfulness may be an extremely effective intervention for a wide range of physical and mental health problems. Among other things, mindful people enjoy greater emotional stability, improved sleep quality and they even get to alter gene expression.
3. Mindfulness Tips
Mindfulness, the practice of cultivating a focused awareness on the present moment, is both a daily habit and a lifelong process. Although it's most commonly practiced and cultivated through meditation, there are many ways to tune in to mindfulness every day.
Spend time outdoors
You can meditate as you walk as mindful people know that simply going for a walk can calm the mind, help us to gain new perspective and facilitate greater awareness. You can also just lay on the grass and take deep a breath as you look at the sky. Studies show that merely looking at green spaces can actually put the brain into a meditative state. Spending more time outside will give you a mental reboot, reinstate a sense of ease and also help you lower your Reliant Energy bill. We can never have enough of nature which is like taking a tonic of vitality.
Be kind to your wandering mind
Don’t judge yourself for whatever thoughts crop up, just practice taking notice and gently bring your mind back when it wonders. Many people mistakenly believe that mindfulness is about being happy all the time. Mindfulness is about accepting whatever we are feeling without the need to control it or to take ourselves too seriously which always happens if we let emotions get the best of us. As Arianna Huffington writes in Thrive, "Angels fly because they take themselves lightly."
Turn chores and daily living into mindful moments
Mindful living means being mindful 24/7 as this is when things get much more interesting. It’s simply being present when you shower, make your coffee, eat, work, play, relax and breathe. It also means being mindful of your energy use. You will help the planet by conserving energy and lower your utility bill. Being mindful will also help you save money as it will help you make purposeful choices with it. After all, our spending, just like our actions, demonstrates our values and priorities. Mindfulness is also about being conscious of what you put in your body and mind, protecting yourself from junk food, toxic information and energy, as well as mindless activities.
Takeaway
Mindfulness helps us approach our experience with warmth and kindness, free of judgement.
If we extend that courtesy to ourselves, we will also be kind to others. The best part is that it’s so simple: all you have to do to spot beauty is look up and enjoy nature’s abundance that is all around us at any given moment. As Mother Teresa put it, “Each moment is all we need, not more.”