The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes.
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, according to the website Mindfulness.com.
Mindfulness encompasses two key ingredients: awareness and acceptance, according to Psychology Today. Awareness is the knowledge and ability to focus attention on one’s inner processes and experiences, such as the experience of the present moment. Acceptance is the ability to observe and accept—rather than judge or avoid—those streams of thought.
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 remodeling the physical structure of your brain.
Mindfulness is a technique of deliberately focusing your attention and not let yourself be distracted by other thoughts constantly running through your head; you clear “noise” from your mind.
Mindfulness is the idea to become more self-aware. You pay attention to your thoughts, feelings, and sensations in that moment — without purposefully deciding whether they’re good or bad, and without becoming overwhelmed or overly reactive.
In short, you tune in to what you’re feeling and what’s real right now. “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally,” says Kabat-Zinn, creator of the research-backed stress-reduction program Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) . “And then I sometimes add, in the service of self-understanding and wisdom.”
Mindfulness – Live in the day; Live in the now.
Mindfulness is available to you in every moment, whether through meditations or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.
Breathe in and out a few times. If your mind wanders, just notice that, accept that your mind has wandered, and refocus on your breathing. That’s a bare bones example of mindfulness. “Mindfulness is really important in times like this,” says Auguste H. Fortin VI, MD, MPH, a Yale Medicine internal medicine specialist who has recommended mindfulness practices to help cope with their illnesses.
Mindfulness is a practice that involves three components:
- Paying attention to what is happening in the present moment
- Doing this purposely and deliberately, with resolve
- Maintaining the attitude that you will stay with your mindfulness experience, whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant
As you spend time practicing mindfulness, you’ll probably find yourself feeling kinder, calmer, and more patient. These shifts in your experience are likely to generate changes in other parts of your life as well.
Mindfulness can help you maximize your enjoyment of life and help you wind down. Its benefits include lowering stress levels, reducing harmful ruminating, and protecting against depression and anxiety. Research even suggests that mindfulness can help people better cope with rejection and social isolation.
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” Lao Tzu
References:
- https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/mindfulness
- https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/mindfulness-covid