The Mindfulness Solution By Ray Siegel

Put a human in nature and they are among, if not the weakest, animals.
We have no protective furs or skin modifications, our strength is laughable in comparison to the lions and gorillas of the world, and the endurance is not significant enough for survival without food and water for even a week. Needless to say we didn’t become the powerful force that we are today by using our muscles. That idea, that humanity came to dominate earth as we know it not by any special physical attribute; but by the remarkable ability of our brains to conceptualize good, bad and learn from observation, is what Siegel theorizes is the great downfall of the modern layperson in his book the “Mindfulness Solution”.
Siegel begins the first chapter of his book by exploring
Going back to the point made in the first chapter, we as humans are generally very future focused, and that constant rush to get to the finish line means that for many of us ‘the now’ is left unexperienced. What we fail to grasp though, is that the future is the sum of all of our ‘nows’. If we don’t savor things as they come it’s hard to logically claim that we will enjoy their resultant.
What applied mindfulness exercises mean are savoring, and really being present to the tastes, textures, colors, smells and sensations of everyday life. The sound of taking a bite out of an apple, the feeling of your blankets wrapped around your body before you dose off at night—all of that is mindfulness. I liked how Siegel presented this idea of not just enjoying the big things in life, but also the little thing. Sometimes, especially when I have so little time on my plate running on autopilot becomes the norm, and on most days we don’t have a big exciting thing to look forward to—on those days relishing the smell of a delicious pineapple smoothie and the feeling of the sun kissing my skin can be the difference between enjoying a day and wanting it to