{"id":125,"date":"2010-09-15T10:08:05","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/09\/wisdom-wednesday-am-i-ok-now-how-bout-now-and-now.html"},"modified":"2010-09-15T10:08:05","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:08:05","slug":"wisdom-wednesday-am-i-ok-now-how-bout-now-and-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/09\/wisdom-wednesday-am-i-ok-now-how-bout-now-and-now.html","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom Wednesday :: “Am I OK now? How ’bout now? And now?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps my mind is singular in its craziness, but my experience with others tells me that I’m not alone. Our minds are constantly asking the question: “Am I OK?” To answer this question, there must be an “I” that is relationship to events, circumstances, people and so forth. <\/p>\n

“Am I warm enough?” “Do I have enough to eat?” “Does everyone think I’m cool?” “Am I missing out on anything?”<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
These questions reinforce a duality and also freezes us in time. Such questions take a snapshot of experience and usually a hasty one at that. This snapshot may be taken at a funny angle or taken in such a way that some things are obstructed from our view. Or the picture may zoom in on one aspect of our life in that moment giving it more emphasis than it deserves.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

\"Flynndog_1.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, a danger in asking the question is that the answer may not be good. We may conclude, “I am NOT OK” and further conclude, “This is awful.” Distress, anguish, and suffering may ensue.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What if we didn’t ask this question, or didn’t ask it so frequently. What if we asked once per month rather than once per second? Chances are that we’d manage our lives just as well and have much less distress to contend with. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The question, itself, is a leading one. What if instead, we could assume, “I am OK” and then when we looked our circumstances we could do so in a more objective fashion. There may be difficulties or problems to fix in the moment, but we<\/i> are not the problem.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness meditation trains us to be aware of how often we are asking these questions and gives us the option of disengaging from them and returning our attention to this moment, a moment that is free of questions and holds the potential for joy (even when we are working to solve a problem.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps my mind is singular in its craziness, but my experience with others tells me that I’m not alone. Our minds are constantly asking the question: “Am I OK?” To answer this question, there must be an “I” that is relationship to events, circumstances, people and so forth. “Am I warm enough?” “Do I have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-mindful-living","category-mindfulnesss"],"yoast_head":"\nWisdom Wednesday :: "Am I OK now? How 'bout now? 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}