The Mindful Woman

Abstract

I am so excited to be writing The Mindful Woman. It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to explore what a majority of us yearn for in our heart of hearts but easily lose sight of amid the whirl of everyday life: that women want peace of mind, open hearts, and an enduring sense of balance and purpose. We want to dispel fear with gratitude and joy. And we want to love ourselves as deeply and unselfishly as we do others. We want to matter and feel fulfilled. Can learning to live mindfully grant us all those desires? I don’t know, but I do know I feel a lot more peaceful, open-hearted, and well-balanced since discovering the promise and practice of mindfulness. Although I’m sure age and circumstances are factors in my softening toward myself and life in general, I’m continually amazed by the fun and joy that accompanies mindfulness … when I remember to do it. While I’m not an expert on mindfulness by any stretch of the imagination, I am passionately committed to increasing mindfulness in both my inner and outer journeys. I leaped at the chance to write this book because one of the best ways to learn something at a deep and enduring level is to teach it. However, in the process of trying to practice what I write, I’m alternately appalled and amused by just how elusive mindfulness can be, how incredibly easy it is for me to be seduced away from simplicity and focused awareness into multi- multitasking and rampant mind-mucking. This morning provided a good example of doing too many things at once and, thereby, becoming absentminded rather than mindful. I caught myself