What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally paying attention to our present-moment experience with openness, curiosity, and without judgment.
Our minds naturally move between thoughts about the past, concerns about the future, and awareness of what is happening now. Mindfulness involves noticing where our attention is and gently bringing it back to the present.
We can become aware of many aspects of our experience, including:
thoughts,
emotions,
bodily sensations,
sounds,
sights,
and our surroundings.
Why Practice Mindfulness?
Mindfulness has been studied extensively in psychology, medicine, neuroscience, and other fields.
Research on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) suggests benefits in areas such as:
attention and awareness,
stress management,
emotional regulation,
psychological well-being,
and coping with difficult experiences.
Mindfulness is not intended to eliminate challenging circumstances. Rather, it can help us develop a different relationship with our experiences and respond to them with greater awareness.
Formal Mindfulness
Formal mindfulness involves intentionally setting aside time to practice mindfulness.
Examples include:
sitting meditation,
mindful breathing,
body scan practices,
mindful movement (e.g. yoga),
and walking meditation.
During formal practice, attention may be intentionally directed toward an object such as the breath, bodily sensations, or sounds. When the mind wanders, the practitioner notices this and gently brings attention back.
The purpose is not to maintain perfect concentration. The process of noticing and returning attention is itself an important part of the practice.
Informal Mindfulness
Informal mindfulness involves bringing mindful awareness into everyday activities rather than setting aside a specific period for meditation.
For example, we can practice mindfulness while:
eating,
walking,
drinking tea or coffee,
washing dishes,
listening to another person,
or engaging in another ordinary activity.
Instead of performing the activity automatically, we intentionally pay attention to what we are experiencing in that moment.
Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Mindfulness is not about being perfectly present all the time.
Mindfulness is about practice, not perfection.
The mind will naturally wander.
The practice is to notice when attention has moved away from the present and gently return.
This process can be repeated many times.
With repeated practice, returning to the present can become a habit in everyday life.
