Want To Be Mindful? Teach Mindfulness
We learn:
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we discuss
80% of what we experience
95% of what we teach others
William Glasser
I was terrified.
15 adults were staring at me, waiting for me to impart some deep wisdom about mindfulness.
That was my first experience of teaching a meditation class after the main teacher didn’t turn up.
I was the assistant and had to step up to the mark.
Once I taught the class, all my fears disappeared. I loved it!
I personally couldn’t think of a better thing to do with my life, than to spread inner peace and joy in the world through mindfulness and meditation.
That was 20 years ago, and I’m still doing the same thing, in different ways!
I’ve had the amazing privilege to share mindfulness with many people over the years. Children and adults. And I’ve discovered so much more about mindfulness through teaching, than I did through just practising on my own.
In this post, you’ll discover the exact discoveries I’ve made, and how you can enjoy fascinating insights too.
Why You Too Should Teach Mindfulness to Others
Sometimes I have crazy, happy visions.
One of my visions is for millions of people teaching mindfulness and kindness (which is what I call kindfulness) around the world. Both adults and children teaching each others.
For this to happen, we need most adults and children to become teachers of meditation and share it with others.
Why? For these three reasons:
An Act of Kindness
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of suffering in the world. By teaching mindfulness and compassion, you are helping people to reduce their suffering and increase their joy.
Sharing mindfulness will also make you feel more joyful. This is because your happiness lies in other people’s happiness.
Who can you share mindfulness with?
You can share mindfulness with your children or grandchildren. Your friends and family members. Your parents or grandparents. Your customers or your clients. Anyone you’re close with is an opportunity to share this, sometimes life-changing and life-saving skill.
I’ve taught mindfulness many times to taxi drivers and commuters. To children and adults. To CEOs and people on the streets. Even to billionaires. It doesn’t matter how much or little money or power these people have - they are all suffering in their own ways, and they all need more mindfulness, compassion and wisdom.
Create World Peace
Hear me out here!
By sharing mindfulness and kindness, you’re creating a happier and more peaceful world.
Although the media make the world seem far more violent and scary than it actually is, there is still much peace, love and joy that needs sharing around the world.
We are all connected to each other within six degrees of separation. Everyone knows everyone within six relationships. By just teaching one person to be more peaceful and less angry and reactive, you’re spreading more peace and love that ripples out for eternity.
When the US had the crazy idea to land a man on the moon, they did it. Let’s have an even more ambitious idea and go for it - world peace. The survival of our species depends on it.
Deepen Your Mindfulness
One surprising side-effect of teaching mindfulness is how much more I discovered.
For example, when I used to practice, I thought mindfulness was just about cultivating a present moment awareness. I now know how important the attitudes are, such as kindness, acceptance and curiosity.
And that’s not just intellectual understanding...I can feel it the importance of kindness in meditation as I write to you now.
I also sometimes forget just how transformative mindfulness can be. And yet when I share it with beginners and they start to practice, they remind me of just how awesome it is to live in the present moment. Then I’m fully enthusiastic about the practice once again!
Finally, my biggest joy in my ongoing learning experience.
Almost everyday, someone asks me what is mindfulness or meditation is. And I stop. I reflect. And a different answer seems to come out depending on what I think this person in front of me needs to hear.
Through people’s questions, I discover more and more about mindfulness everyday. And so can you!
But How Can I Teach Mindfulness?
There are some simple ways you can start teaching and sharing mindfulness today.
Practising yourself
Certainly, the best way to share mindfulness is to practice mindfulness.
The more mindful you are, the more people will feel that mindful ‘energy’ about you.
That doesn’t just mean you’re calm all the time. For me, I am more energised too, and more willing to be myself. I care less what other people think of me.
Be mindful in conversations
Another, nice, subtle way to share mindfulness is the way you behave in relationship with others. Listening without judging. Not judging anyone altogether.
And when people judge or criticise you, you remember that they are more likely talking about themselves rather you.
One minute mindful exercises like mindfulness of breath
I’ve you’re not a qualified mindfulness teacher, but want to share a taste of what mindfulness meditation is, you can share this very simple one minute mindful exercise.
Ask your friend if they’d like to experience a minute or so of mindfulness
If so, ask them to sit comfortably in a quiet place. Beginners do need a bit of a quiet atmosphere.
Invite them to take three deep in and out breaths and gently close their eyes to help focus their attention.
Each time they breathe out, invite them to feel the breath and count in their mind. 1….2….3…. All the way up to 10.
Then, they can slowly open their eyes.
Hopefully they’ll have a positive, relaxing experience. If not, remind them that it’s a skill that makes much longer than a minute to learn. And if there’s something about the experience they feel they can benefit from, you could share some other short mindfulness audios, maybe our free Kindfulness course, or whatever else that’s worked for you.
Conclusion
I believe mindfulness and compassion practices help to make our world a better place to live in.
Sharing and teaching mindfulness and compassion should not reserved for the select few.
I believe it’s everyone’s responsibility and is a great honor and privilege to share such a skill and way of being. Teaching mindfulness not only helps the learner, but you, as the teacher, greatly benefit too.
You can teach mindfulness in a very light and simple way, or go into great depth, depending on your personal practice and inclination.
Your Next Steps
We don’t take mindfulness and compassion too seriously. We like to have some fun along the way too. Here’s me and my friends at the Museum of Happiness sharing mindfulness with young people at Arts University Bournemouth!
I now spend my time creating opportunities for others to teach mindfulness and compassion in the world. Spreading Kindfulness far and wide!
For very simple exercises, you can use your personal practice and share guided mindfulness audios or the free 7-day kindfulness course or paid 8 week full kindfulness course.
For integrating mindfulness and kindfulness into the work you do, or wanting go more deeper into it, read our ebook, and then apply for free to find out if it’s for you, or reply to this email with your phone number to arrange a free chat with our chief happiness officer, Teresa, to see if it’s for you.
If you want to take mindfulness into business and corporates, learn more and apply here.
Thank you dear readers for supporting me to do such work! Thank you, thank you, thank you!