mindful energy



"Mindfulness is energy. This energy helps us enjoy what is happening right now. Mindful energy can bring us a lot of joy. It helps us suffer less and learn from our suffering. A good way to get some mindful energy is to close your eyes and breathe easily. Just pay attention to your breath. If you can enjoy your in-breath and out-breath, you are creating mindful energy." - Thich Nhat Hanh, in "Is Nothing Something?"


The quote above and the article quoted next both mention mindfulness as an energy. The article the next quote comes from also discusses how to create mindful energy and how to use it. All these ideas and especially the quote about how a good practitioner knows how to create a moment of joy . . . at any time of the day has been on my mind for a long while now. A couple years back I heard Thay discuss these ideas in a talk, but he used the language of being able to create specific states of mind or being. 

I wonder if these ideas ring a bell or if anyone knows of further teachings along these lines. They may also be connected to the idea of not letting passing situations throw or pull you off track.

"That is why mindfulness and concentration are such sources of happiness. That’s why a good practitioner knows how to create a moment of joy, a feeling of happiness, at any time of the day." - Thich Nhat Hanh via https://www.lionsroar.com/mindful-living-thich-nhat-hanh-on-the-practice-of-mindfulness-march-2010/ 

Other related quotes: 

"Instead, our approach is to generate the energy of mindfulness and embrace anger every time it manifests." - https://www.lionsroar.com/loosening-the-knots-of-anger/ 


This block quote on 'Giving and Receiving Mindfulness Energy' puts it in a sort of concrete light, as something that can be created and shared with others. 

When you are angry, when you feel despair, you practice mindful breathing, mindful walking, to generate the energy of mindfulness. This energy allows you to recognize and embrace your painful feelings. And if your mindfulness is not strong enough, you ask a brother or a sister in the practice to sit close to you, to breathe with you, to walk with you in order to support you with his or her mindfulness energy. 
Practicing mindfulness does not mean that you have to do everything on your own. You can practice with the support of your friends. They can generate enough mindfulness energy to help you take care of your strong emotions. 
We can also support others with our mindfulness when they are in difficulty. When our child is drowning in a strong emotion, we can hold his or her hand and say, “My dear one, breathe. Breathe in and out with mommy, with daddy.” We can also invite our child to do walking meditation with us, gently taking her hand and helping her calm down, with each step. When you give your child some of your mindfulness energy, she will be able to calm down very quickly and embrace her emotions. - https://www.lionsroar.com/loosening-the-knots-of-anger/ 

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