What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to whatever you're experiencing in the present moment. Being mindful means becoming aware of your thoughts, your feelings and emotions, your behaviours, and your senses as you're experiencing them, and simply recognizing them as they are, without judging them.

When you're being mindful, you're not being swept away by thoughts, memories, emotions, worries, fears, plans, daydreams and other distractions. You're mind isn't dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. You're attention is focused on what you're doing and experiencing right now, in the present, as it's happening.

How Mindfulness Can Help

Mindfulness helps you experience whatever is going on in your life without becoming overwhelmed. Rather than struggling to escape, avoid or suppress distressing or painful thoughts, feelings and situations, you're able to experience and survive these difficulties through awareness, understanding and self-compassion.

• Mindfulness teaches you to slow down your mind and deal with racing thoughts, negative thinking, regrets, worries and fears.
 
• Mindfulness helps you tolerate and calm strong feelings and emotions without becoming overwhelmed.
 
• Mindfulness improves your ability to relax and deal with stress, anxiety and uncertainty.
 
• Mindfulness helps you experience unpleasant physical sensations and symptoms that often accompany stress and difficult emotions in ways that reduce distress.
 
• Mindfulness leads to greater self-awareness, self-knowledge and understanding, and self-acceptance, helping you lead a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

I also offer an Online Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Course that you can try for free, and you can read more about mindfulness on my blog and on my mindfulness-based therapy webpage.