Mindfulness practice

Daily life at the Center is based on the practice of awareness as taught by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Awareness, or “mindfulness”, is the energy that helps us to recognize and accept “what is”, that is, what exists or happens in us and around us in the present moment. The practice generates inner calm, improves the capacity for discernment and allows us to act at our best (rather than react), in various situations.

By bringing body and mind together through awareness, we give ourselves the possibility to slow down the sometimes frenetic rhythm of our life, to rest and to be able to get in touch deeply with the wonders of life that are always available in us and around us in the present moment: the birdsong, the moonlight, the freshness of a flower, the eyes of a child, our own eyes and ears that allow us to see and feel all this.

We also develop the ability to see the seeds of suffering that lie deep within our consciousness – anger, jealousy, greed, illusion… – and the collective consciousness – hunger, disease, injustice, oppression… – the first step to understanding and transforming them.

The practice of consciousness leads us out of the vicious circle of emotions and thoughts constantly turned to the past (regrets, remorse, grudges…) or to the future (daydreams, anxieties, fears…) in which we live constantly immersed without even realizing it, and helps us to establish ourselves in the present, in the here and now, the only moment in which life is truly available.

The practice includes on one side various forms of meditation and and on the other side bringing full attention to every single act of daily life. This training to live consciously produces in itself a beneficial effect of calm, clarity and the ability to listen and understand.