Mindfulness and honesty
To completely experience the here-and-now, truthful mindfulness is required
Mindfulness and honesty are intricately intertwined as you must be completely honest with yourself about what is going on at any given moment. Genuine honesty first relates to one’s inner truth about instincts and emotions—even when conflicting or involving ambivalence. Once this inner genuineness is addressed, it relates to congruence in action and speech toward others.
This sort of mindful honesty is easily recognized. For example, one can clearly tell the difference between the musician who has only perfected the technique, but not connected with the emotions within the music…until that is, that musician gets into their ‘groove.’ At that point, the audience feels or intuits a change in the meaning of both the music and the musician. Within that genuine groove, skill magnifies the enjoyment of music in a way that the less skilled musician who is in a genuine groove is no less enjoyable.
Furthermore, when we practice mindful honesty ourselves, somebody else’s lack thereof may still be a more tolerable experience.
In a nutshell, when angry, experience and respond appropriately to your genuine, legitimate anger; be honest with yourself about what you are feeling. Remember that those feelings are trying to redirect your intention to joy or contentment; balance. Same with sadness, frustration, happiness, etc.
Learn more about Mindfulness-based Counseling in Austin.
Jonathan F. Anderson, LPC-s has worked in the helping profession since he started college in 1990. After completing his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas, Austin in 1994, he attended the highly-regarded University of Minnesota to earn his Master’s degree in 1997. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor and is recognized as a Board Approved Supervisor by the State of Texas Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Jonathan has completed Level-2 of the Gottman Method of Couples Counseling, and in 1998 received training from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation in Advanced Critical Incident Stress Management & Debriefing. To learn more about Jonathan’s practice, click here: Jonathan F. Anderson, LPC-s.
