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“The awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non- judgmentally”.
-Jon Kabat Zinn
Mindfulness is about being aware of what’s going on inside you (thoughts, feelings, body sensations) as well as outside you (your environment) right now.
It is maintaining an open hearted awareness of our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations and environment in the present moment”.
Mindfulness helps us to become an observer of the patterns of our mind. We cultivate the attitude that the breath & body is our anchor that we can return to it any stage we are faced with events, feelings & emotions that are uncomfortable to us. We do not judge or criticise ourselves in anyway as this just puts up barriers. Once we become aware of the content of our thoughts we can be more discerning and are far less likely to get caught up in negative thinking or ruminating.
The added benefit of this type of training is that it allows us to experience the joy in our lives much more fully. Cultivating mindfulness can also change our experience of activities in our lives that we may label as mundane/boring. Learning mindfulness can have an effect on our perception of events and we may find ourselves in a state of awe and wonder at things that simply went unnoticed before.
Have you ever arrived to your destination only to realise you missed it all? Ever went upstairs and forgot what you went up for? This is a habitual way of living life on “autopilot”. It sounds harmless and ok but it is in this state that we end up “reacting” instead of “responding” to life’s ups and downs. When we step out of autopilot and come back to the present moment which is all we have, we gain a wider perspective on our whole experience and we can then choose our response with more control.
