What is Mindfulness?

Have you ever come across the word “mindfulness?” If so, do you know what it means? This word is a bit more important than you might think. Once you know what it is and apply it to your life, you could find yourself living your life more fruitful and living it to the fullest.

What is “mindfulness?”

Mindfulness is described to be the state of being attentive to the present. When you are mindful, you tend to be more observant about your feelings and thoughts even from a distance. You are not judgmental of your surroundings and you tend to keep an open mind. Instead of wasting your life not noticing what is truly important and what exactly you have to cherish, it means you are living in the moments and open to new experiences. Another way to understand or describe mindfulness is the moment-by-moment alertness of bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts.

What does it involve?

Mindfulness focuses on what is being sensed at each moment in your life. It involves bringing a person’s complete attention to their present issues and experiences in life rather than their past or future experiences. There are many individuals that practice mindfulness by sitting with their eyes closed, in a cross-legged position on the floor, cushion and/or chair. Just like meditation, the attention is focused on the breathing. As a thought or feeling pops up in their mind, the attention on breathing should be maintained.

If you ask those people who practice this type of meditation, they will describe it as their mind wandering around but welcoming acceptance in their life. Many meditators start with at least 10 minutes daily. However, as a person practices on a regular basis, it becomes much easier to focus all their attention on their breathing.

But you don’t have to sit still to be mindful. It could also mean just being present when cooking dinner and not letting your mind wonder, or going for a walk and paying special attention to the noises and smells around you, it could even include being switched on when driving and not letting autopilot take over and your mind wonder.

Why should you practice mindfulness?

There have been studies that show that practicing mindfulness for just a few weeks could give psychological, physical and social benefits. Here are some advantages that it brings:

• It is good for our bodies physically and boosts the immune system
• It is good for the mind and lets go of negative feelings and emotions while increasing positive energy
• It enhances the brain’s learning abilities, memory, and emotion regulation capabilities
• It helps people focus and tune out distractions
• It enhances relationships with other people
• It helps people cope with stress and other distressing situations

As you can see, mindfulness is a healthy practice that is easy to try with countless benefits. It allows you to increase the positive energy in your life and allows you to see what is right in front of you and truly appreciate that.