Discovering Mindfulness – What is it All About?

Mindfulness is about being in the moment and experiencing the moment exactly as it is.

No thoughts of the past or future are there, just present moments.

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, a teacher of mindfulness meditation and the founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, mindfulness can be defined as, “paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”

Mindfulness (or mindfulness meditation as it is sometimes referred to) is about being attentive to all of the sensory information that is entering your mind by way of your five senses. By putting it to work in your own life you can become more conscious of every moment that is at hand and in turn can feel more vibrantly alive in those moments!

Staying Focused on the Now:

When you practice mindfulness, anxiety, stress and worry fade away because you are not stressing out about what is to come in your future nor are you reliving anything that happened in your past that was distressing to you. The only thing that is taking place when you practice mindfulness is the moment.

It is all about the moment and nothing else. This frees your minds from past and future worries and concerns and makes it possible for you to feel fully awake and alive. The end result is a true appreciation for your life at this present time. All other worries fade away. Your mind will not be enslaved and instead will be clear, focussed and not at all cloudy or wayward.

The best way to think of mindfulness is to think of it as “paying attention on purpose.” It is a conscious means of directing your awareness. You decide to focus on being in the moment and not letting your mind head in any other direction.  It is staying focussed on the “now.”

Keeping the Purpose in the Practice:

Purposefulness plays an important role in mindfulness. You must think with purpose and consciously focus your attention in a particular direction.

In his way you harness the power of your mind and point it in the direction you want it to go in. You are actively shaping your mind when you have purpose within the experience you are having. This is the case whether you are breathing, eating, taking a walk or doing an activity such as dancing or painting.

It is important to note that mindfulness involves awareness but the two terms cannot be used interchangeably and are not the exact same state. For instance you may be aware that you are feeling irritable and anxious but that does not mean that you are necessarily mindful of these negative feelings you are experiencing. To be mindful you must be purposely aware of the feelings and yourself as a whole.

In other words vaguely feeling that you are irritated and annoyed is not being mindful of it.

To use another simple example of this, you may be aware that you are eating a meal but that does not mean that you are eating mindfully. If you are completely aware of every physical sensation that you are experiencing as well as every emotion and thought as you bring a forkful of food to your mouth and as you chew and swallow then you are practicing mindfulness.

You must have purpose in staying within the experience at hand to be mindful of it. Your mind does not wander when you are mindful and it provides an anchor that gives your mind freedom, as well as room to grow, thrive and experience calm, serenity and joy.

This is a large topic and this is just setting the stage for further discussion in subsequent posts by me.

Becca Scott
Staff Writer
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