What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness means paying attention in a particulay way:
On purpose:
In the present moment:
And nonjudgmentally.
-Jon Kabat-Zinn
In plain english Mindfulness is the practice of being completely engaged in the present moment. The idea is to clear your mind of every thought, every judgment, every reflection and every decision so that you are simply experiencing the present. This enables us to see the moment for what it is, without any pre-concieved notions or thoughts.
Have you ever lay awake in bed for hours thinking about things going on around you and found that all kinds of scenarios and thoughts raced through your mind? Often times we get caught in a spiral of unhelpful, stress-inducing thoughts and before we know it we are so stressed out that sleep is the last thing on our minds.
This is where Mindfulness can help and I don’t mean just at bedtime! In any situation where there is anxiety, stress or even depression, practicing Mindfulness can help to stop the negative spiral of our thoughts and let us see the moment for how it really is. Anxiety is a classic example where people get so stressed by the thoughts that are going around in their mind that they fail to see the situation for what it is, all they can see is the picture that they have in their minds and it is usually not good! Mindfulness can help with that.
The Seven Key Elements of Mindfulness post explains more about the process of achieving a mindful state.
Long practiced in a wide range of Eastern philosophies including Taoism, Buddhism and Yoga, mindfulness has only recently emerged as a useful tool in western society and is being used to treat many different psychological issues such as chronic pain, anxiety and depression.
To quote Jon Kabat-Zinn once more, mindfulness is “The Art of Conscious Living” and once mastered can greatly improve your health, happiness and can change your outlook on life very quickly. To see Jon Kabat-Zinn in action take a look at the Video of Jon Leading a Mindfulness Session for employees of Google.