Arukah Institute of Healing in Princeton offers a variety of yoga classes gear toward mindfulness. The studio is located at 5 N. Dallas St. PHOTO BY SCOTT ANDERSON
Be more mindful Arukah director shares a 3-minute mind exercise to ease stress and anxiety
with an attitude toward openness. Simply put, mindfulness is paying attention to something without reacting to it,” says Dr. Sarah Scruggs, director of Arukah. “In other words, it is being aware of how you are feeling, almost as if you are stepping outside of your body and watching the situation from a Compiled by Kim Shute third person’s point of view. You are creating space between the situation During times of uncertainty, it’s natural to feel a bit unmoored, and a you are in and your reaction.” Mindfulness is how one establishes pandemic certainly qualifies as a time one of the most valuable character of uncertainty. traits, or fruits of the spirit, self-conSo what can you do to ease some trol. We all experience a spectrum of of the anxiety that comes with it? emotions that are valid and importThe leaders at Arukah Institute in Princeton are here for you with some ant. The hard part is that we often forget that we are not our emotions. tips on mindfulness. For example, if you are driving What is mindfulness you ask? “The clinical definition of mindful- down the road and someone cuts you ness is the self-regulation of attention off, you might want to pull over, get
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out of your car and yell at that person. If you are practicing mindfulness you acknowledge how that upset you and then take in a deep breath and think maybe that person didn’t see you or perhaps they are having a bad day or are running very late. “Perhaps the greatest thing about mindfulness, is that you can do it anywhere – the classroom, the workplace, in the car, in the woods or in your bedroom. And it’s free. You don’t need fancy equipment. You just need your breath. If it feels funny or awkward, don’t be discouraged. We as a culture have a hard time slowing our thoughts down. It’s like anything, you have to practice. Give yourself grace and be patient with yourself. If you want a community, Arukah has many classes each week where we practice mindfulness together,”
Living magazine
9/8/20 9:24 AM
