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What is Mindfulness? A Journey to Inner Peace and Clarity

Mindfulness has been popularised in the 1990s and is currently a trendy concept – we cannot help but hear about the importance of being ‘mindful’. But what is mindfulness? There is some misconception that mindfulness is linked to religion or is typically an eastern culture tradition.

Mindfulness did originate from meditation practices aimed to teach Buddhist monks and nuns, to be receptive and fully aware of thoughts and feelings in the present moment. But at the roots, mindfulness has never been a religious practice. If anything, mindfulness is a ‘how to be human and present to each moment’ practice. Historically, mindfulness became known in Europe and the United States in the 1960s. But it is mainly through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, who was looking into stress-reduction, that the concept of mindfulness has been popularised in the West. Kabat-Zinn (2005) defined mindfulness as ‘’paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally”.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a practice, or a technique, that aims to train the mind to be receptive to the thoughts and feelings that are arising, with an attitude of quiet observance and acceptance. The human brain is constantly jumping from one thing to another, constantly critiquing, analyzing, planning, ruminating... Mindfulness aims to bring more quiet within and is all about teaching us to ‘be’ in the present moment, without the urge to ‘do’ or analyze and feel more at peace.

As such, we can say that mindfulness is simply about how we can consciously, and purposely, bring our focus back to the present i.e. to what we are feeling or experiencing through our thoughts, bodily feelings or sensations in the present moment and gain more clarity.

One of the questions one often hears is: “Do I need to sit cross-legged, dressed in a robe, away from human civilization to practice mindfulness?” The answer is no. You can wait for your bus and be mindful, you can brush your teeth and be mindful, you can play with your dog and be mindful! What matters is how engaged and present you are in each of these activities? Are you engaging all your senses and all your focus on this one thing you are doing? If so, you are mindful. If your attention is scattered or you are multi-tasking then you are not being mindful. It is as simple as that.

Another comment is “Mindfulness sounds kinda boring” – since sitting and “doing nothing” is often seen as a waste of time. This speaks to the difficulty of human beings in staying still and not being distracting with whatever gadget is lying around. We have lost the ability to be with ourselves and this discomfort is what makes us reach for our phones, switch on the TV or turn to social media.

A closer look at what mindfulness is

Researchers agree that several key principles define what mindfulness is. These principles are:

1. An attitude of non-judgment - means that we no longer attach a value to what is happening. There is no assessment of ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’. It just is.

2. Patience – refers to our ability to be with whatever is happening without wishing it to be different or to jump to the next thing. Things will emerge in their own time.

3. Beginner’s mind – can we accept what is happening without letting our experiences be filtered by our expectations, beliefs or what we have experienced before?

4. Trust – can we learn to trust ourselves, our feelings and intuition for guidance

5. Non-striving – can we go with the flow rather than ‘force’ things to be different or better than what they are now?

6. Acceptance – can we accept the ‘what is’ rather than hold on to the ‘what should have been’?

7. Letting go – can we let go of our expectations or desired outcome?

Benefits of mindfulness

Kabat-Zinn demonstrated the benefits of mindfulness in relation to stress reduction. Hundreds of studies have been conducted with his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and findings are pretty clear in demonstrating the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness.

Research has suggested that the regular practice of mindfulness can be an antidote to stress. When we are facing stressful situations or circumstances, our central nervous system is activated and our body is flooded with cortisol, the stress hormone. This kicks our bodies into high alert with the typical increase in heart rate and blood pressure, faster breathing and fear response – out bodies switches on the fight-or-flight response. But learning to practice mindfulness can restore this emotional stress response by switching on the para-sympathetic nervous system which calms the fear response and instead lowers our heart rate and blood pressure, slows down our breathing and our stress responses.

Some of the benefits of mindfulness meditation that research discovered is in relation to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, insomnia, focus and concentration... athletes note an improvement in performance... similarly students perform better (and are better able to manage their anxiety) at exams. Mindfulness helps regulation emotions, strengthens the immune system and lessens pain. For example, cancer patients are able to manage pain. Generally, mindfulness promotes physical health but also improves overall satisfaction and quality of life.

How can I practice mindfulness?

Mindfulness is not a rigid, structured, discipline but is accessible to anyone, at anytime. You don’t need to buy anything – there is no need for any special equipment or fancy attire. All that is involved is for you to be with yourself and all your senses (i.e. sight, touch, sound, smell, taste) and just pay attention and breathe.

Do not judge any thoughts, do not push any thoughts away... just watch your thoughts and observe your feelings as they come and go. Go back to your breath whenever you are distracted (e.g. noise, thoughts, self-judgment).

That’s it. Do not judge yourself for doing it ‘wrong’. You cannot go wrong when sitting and breathing with whatever emerges in the present moment. You can sit, lie down, stand or walk. You can close your eyes or keep them open. Best of all, you can practice for as little as 1 minute. There are no rules.

So why don’t you give it a try now that you know what mindfulness is. If you would like help in learning this skill, book a free consult and we would love to help you on your journey to inner peace and clarity.

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“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-11