“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a neutral, nonjudgmental filter.
Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that you pay attention to your current thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment.
When you practice mindfulness, your thoughts tune into what you’re sensing in the present moment rather than rehashing your past or imagining your future.
To be mindful is to be fully conscious or aware of your surroundings. It’s important to not think or worry about the future. Instead, the goal is to physically, emotionally, mentally, and cognitively stay within the present moment.
“Mindfulness…is the presence of heart.” Chinese Translation
To discover mindfulness is to discover what happens when you deliberately take time to detect the reality and your perception of the present moment no matter what it’s like—and gradually cultivate ‘an open heart’ to what we notice and sense, asserts teacher Adam Moskowitz.
Mindfulness Chinese symbol
A Chinese translation for mindfulness is presence of heart. At its core mindfulness is a heart-centered practice. It is a realization of your fundamental wholeness, according to Moskowitz. It is a discovery of your innate care for yourself and one another. It is recognition of the truth of your interdependence—how we rely on one another and how the world relies on us.
Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks, can bring a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits. Essentially, mindfulness is good for your health, wealth and emotional well-being.
Mindfulness can be cultivated and practiced daily, Jon Kabat-Zinn emphasizes in his Greater Good video. “It’s about living your life as if it really mattered, moment by moment by moment by moment.”
It is essential for our wellbeing to take a few minutes each day to cultivate mindfulness and achieve a positive mind-body balance. Here are a few key components of practicing mindfulness that Kabat-Zinn and others identify:
- Pay close attention to your breathing, especially when you’re feeling intense emotions.
- Notice—really notice—what you’re sensing in a given moment, the sights, sounds, and smells that ordinarily slip by without reaching your conscious awareness.
- Recognize that your thoughts and emotions are fleeting and do not define you, an insight that can free you from negative thought patterns.
- Tune into your body’s physical sensations, from the water hitting your skin in the shower to the way your body rests in your office chair.
The cultivation of moment-by-moment awareness of our surrounding environment is a practice that helps us better cope with the difficult thoughts and feelings that cause us stress and anxiety in everyday life.
With regular practice of mindfulness exercises, you can harness the ability to root the mind in the present moment and deal with life’s challenges in a clear-minded, calm, assertive way. It’s about the challenges and the rewards of being less self-centered and more self aware.
— The Center for Mindfulness @ UMass Memorial Health (@umasscfm) March 25, 2021
References:
- https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition
- https://www.withinmeditation.com/blog/2020/10/2/presence-of-heart-what-mindfulness-is-and-isnt
- https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition#why-practice-mindfulness
- https://www.pocketmindfulness.com/6-mindfulness-exercises-you-can-try-today/