How I Practice Mindfulness

As regular readers know I’m an outdoor sports junkie. One of the biggest drivers for me to work less is to free up time to enjoy the natural wonders of this amazing starship we call Earth.  Whether it be rock climbing, mountaineering, cycling, stand up paddle boarding, or just good old running, I love playing and working out in nature.

Some people call these pursuits “extreme” sports.  Those of us who do them have long been tired of that media trope that emerged over 20 years ago.  Are these activities “extreme”?  Sure, they come with some inherent risk, as do all sports.  See: football and CTE. 

I would, however, consider routinely sitting on the couch eating Cheetos and binging on Netflix as an extreme activity.  The long term consequences of that are far more dangerous. 

But I’ll take their bait and agree that many of my hobbies are “extreme”.  They’re extremely healthy, extremely fun, and extremely mind-cleansing.  Fun and healthy are worthy things to pursue, but I’d like to focus on mind-cleansing.

The Achiever’s Burden

We who pursue financial independence tend to be achievers.  If you look at the community and the financial independence blogosphere you’ll find people who are winning at life. 

But with the achievement personality comes the constant mind chatter, the voice in the brain that doesn’t allow rest.  Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’ve noticed that “mindfulness” has become quite popular in recent years.  One of the definitions of mindfulness is:

a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

I’ve noticed many personal finance bloggers have written about mindfulness and how it can help on the path to FI.  And in general the main proponents of mindfulness tend to be high achievers.  The kind of people that get interviewed on the Tim Ferriss podcast.

Why is this?

High achievers tend to have constant mind chatter.  And, like Tim Ferriss, much of it is negative and self-critical.  They have an ever-present inner voice pushing them to do things, to accomplish, to improve. 

And it’s largely pessimistic.  Studies show that mental chatter is a 70% negative phenomenon.  This is called negativity dominance.

As the article explains, the negative thoughts are not random but rooted in deep-seated values, desires, and goals. 

So mindfulness, or learning how to silence that voice, even temporarily, can be very therapeutic. 

Nobody Asked You, Stupid Voice

I’m not immune from this negative self-talk, and experience it daily.  It’s a constant battle.  When I’m making a new graphic design or writing a blog post, the voice is often there.  “No one’s going to buy this…..”, or “This post is going to flop….. c’mon, give it up”.  I hate that voice.

For me, the outdoor sports I do function as mindfulness to help squash that voice.  They forced me to be “in the moment” and to block out the mind-chatter.  Because if I don’t, the consequences could be very high.

When I’m 50 feet up on a sheer rock wall and the only thing preventing me from falling are four of my fingers wedged in a thin crack, trust me, I’m in the moment.  I’m not thinking about my net worth, my job, or that wobbly fence post in my backyard that I need to fix.  The climb requires 110% of my focus.  I’m attuned to every muscle twitch, every little pain, every sound, and every sensation around me.  I am alive.

When I’m flying down a narrow trail on my mountain bike at speeds faster than I should, my mind must be fully focused on what I’m doing.  It’s impossible to be thinking of bills, my side hustle, or anything else.  That’s a recipe for crashing and hitting a tree.

These activities are like a big “ctrl-alt-delete” for my brain.  They wipe out all the proverbial mental browser tabs of mind-chatter that relentlessly pile up and stress me out.  I’m not thinking about the future, or the past.  It all becomes invisible and the screen just goes to a picture of a pretty pasture with wildflowers.  Like those old Windows desktop pics.

My extremely fun sports teach clarity and focus in a multitasking world where many of us find it increasingly difficult to read a short 500 word article without getting distracted. 

As I wrote for a post on The Mindful Explorer last year, effective recharging of oneself doesn’t happen by USB port or plug, it happens in their absence.

Mindfulness Is Where You Find It

Do you constantly have that negative mind-chatter that you can’t seem to shut off?  That voice of stress, pushing you to do more while not accepting and reflecting on what you’ve done? 

I would suggest “extreme” sports, but hey I’m biased.  They sure do wonders for me.  But there’s tons of other activities that require 100% mental focus, and that don’t come with the physical risk.

If meditation or similar mindfulness practices work for you, then keep doing them.  But for me, so-called extreme sports give me all the benefits of mindfulness, with awesome fitness gains as a cherry on top. 

Your turn readers – Do you practice meditation or mindfulness? Or like me do you use other activities to do it in an indirect way?