About the project

My focus in this storytelling class was on improving mindfulness. This story is based on one of my friends and tries to tell how to improve mindfulness by using visuals.

This story is Mainly based on sitting and walking meditation and finally I explain how to improve our life through mindfulness.

Storyboarding

After the research and ideation part, I carefully drew the right picture according to the script and tried to give a complete meaning.

Section - 01 - A Journey of Mindfulness

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

While mindfulness is something we all naturally possess, it’s more readily available to us when we practice on a daily basis.

Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. And there’s growing research showing that when you train your brain to be mindful, you’re actually remodelling the physical structure of your brain.

The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.

Section - 02 - Sitting Meditation

How to Sit for Mindfulness Meditation -

01 - Take your seat. Whatever you’re sitting on—a chair, a meditation cushion, a park bench—find a spot that gives you a stable, solid seat, not perching or hanging back.

02 - Notice what your legs are doing. If on a cushion on the floor, cross your legs comfortably in front of you. (If you already do some kind of seated yoga posture, go ahead.) If on a chair, it’s good if the bottoms of your feet are touching the floor.

03 - Straighten—but don’t stiffen—your upper body. The spine has natural curvature. Let it be there. Your head and shoulders can comfortably rest on top of your vertebrae.

04 - Situate your upper arms parallel to your upper body. Then let your hands drop onto the tops of your legs. With your upper arms at your sides, your hands will land in the right spot. Too far forward will make you hunch.

Too far back will make you stiff. You’re tuning the strings of your body— not too tight and not too loose.

05 - Drop your chin a little and let your gaze fall gently downward. You may let your eyelids lower. If you feel the need, you may lower them completely, but it’s not necessary to close your eyes when meditating. You can simply let what appears before your eyes be there without focusing on it.

06 - Be there for a few moments. Relax. Bring your attention to your breath or the sensations in your body.

07 - Feel your breath—or some say “follow” it—as it goes out and as it goes in. (Some versions of this practice put more emphasis on the out-breath, and for the in-breath, you simply leave a spacious pause.) Either way, draw your attention to the physical sensation of breathing: the air moving through your nose or mouth, the rising and falling of your belly, or your chest. Choose your focal point, and with each breath, you can mentally note “breathing in” and “breathing out.”

08 - Inevitably, your attention will leave the breath and wander to other places. Don’t worry. There’s no need to block or eliminate thinking. When you get around to noticing your mind wandering—in a few seconds, a minute, five minutes—just gently return your attention to the breath.

09 - Practice pausing before making any physical adjustments, such as moving your body or scratching an itch. With intention, shift at a moment you choose, allowing space between what you experience and what you choose to do.

10 - You may find your mind wandering constantly—that’s normal, too. Instead of wrestling with or engaging with those thoughts as much, practice observing without needing to react. Just sit and pay attention. As hard as it is to maintain, that’s all there is. Come back over and over again without judgment or expectation.

11 - When you’re ready, gently lift your gaze (if your eyes are closed, open them). Take a moment and notice any sounds in the environment. Notice how your body feels right now. Notice your thoughts and emotions. Pausing for a moment, decide how you’d like to continue on with your day.

That’s it. That’s the practice. It’s often been said that it’s very simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. The work is to just keep doing it. Results will accrue.

Section - 03 - Walking Meditation

How to  Walking Meditation - 

01 - If you know that you are walking, you are mindful at that moment.

02 - When you take steps consciously in this way, your clarity of mind and calmness will improve. This activity is what we call mindful walking.

03 - A promenade is a place where you can walk freely on the grass, on the sand or inside.

04 - When we become accustomed to our environment, it is a great relief.

05 - If there are no obstacles in front of us we can freely move forward and get back to where we started.

06 - Step by step attention.

When the walk begins, we focus our full attention on the action of the walk.

07 - Every step is taken slow, mindful and silently. (SMS) Step by step, the mind imagines how the feet are placed on the ground.

08 - At the corner of the promenade, Learn how the body gradually turns as we turn our legs slowly.

09 - Continue to be mindful and relaxed. When the foot hits the ground and touches the sole of the foot, we pay close attention to it.

10 - Then you can recognize the sensations you feel. It can also feel the difference between warmth and coolness felt on the toes of the foot and the difference between tightness or softness. Notice how the weight of the body feels to the foot. 

11 - Step by step, the mind sees and knows what it feels like at that moment.

12 - Sometimes our attention can be diverted to a thought that has been lost or to what we have seen. There is no need to worry about the mind being distracted by other things. It's something we all have in common.

13 - Once you know that the mind is lost in walking, you can focus back on the act of walking and continue walking. As you continue to train this way, your mindfulness will improve. The mind becomes calmer and clear.

Section - 04 -Benefits to the life

- The bitter experiences of the past are the best teachers in our lives. They teach us to be more patient, to be more kind, and to bear upon many things that happened in the present moment. Mindfulness gives us the impetus for that.

- What bothers you is the bitter memories of the past. It is useless to regret what happened in the past because it has already happened. If you can let go of the past, you can live happily in the present. In the same way, it is useless to fear the future because it is not yet arrived. You can experience it through mindfulness.

- Physical exercise is important to develop your physical strength. Mental exercise is also important for developing your mental strength. Mindfulness is a mental exercise. Every time you are mindful, your mental strength grows.

- Be a friend of yourself for a moment. Then you will be free from the outside world. When you are free from the outer world, you are free from a world of questions, a world of sorrow and a world of stress.

- If you have a bag full of luggage, it is a burden to you. If the bag only has what you need, then it is a relief for you. It is a burden when your mind is filled with many things. When you are mindful at this moment, your mind is as light as an empty bag.

- When you find it difficult to do something, stop thinking and do your work mindfully. Be as friendly with it as possible. Then you realize that what's harder than doing something is thinking about it.

- Do not let others control your happiness. Do not even bother to find it outside. Because happiness is a skill that you need to develop. You can develop that skill through mindful training.

-  Past is over. Future is a plan. This moment is the only time we can live.

Poster

Mockups