Mindfulness
Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a practice derived from ancient Eastern meditation practices. It involves bringing our full awareness to the experience of the present moment, whether through focusing on the breath, body sensations, taste or sounds around us. We learn to sharpen our minds and develop our concentration without getting constantly distracted. When we pay full attention to these pure experiences, we learn to gradually let go of the judging mind, and instead, simply notice each experience as it arises in the moment. When we pay attention to the present moment, we learn to move away from worrying about the future, or thinking about the past, either through rose-tinted glasses or with regret or shame. Mindfulness brings awareness to these automatic processes, so we can learn to respond consciously rather than just reacting unconsciously to habits of the mind.
Mindfulness is ‘paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, in a non-judgemental manner’ John Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness is a practice. It is a way for you to learn to take better care of yourself by exploring and understanding the interplay of mind and body. It helps cultivate your own inner resources for coping and growing.
‘Don’t meditate to fix yourself, to heal yourself, to improve yourself, to redeem yourself; rather, do it as an act of love, of deep warm friendship to yourself.
In this way there is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement, for the endless guilt of not doing enough.
It offers the possibility of an end to the ceaseless round of trying so hard that wraps so many people’s lives in a knot.
Instead there is now meditation as an act of love. How endlessly delightful and encouraging ‘
(Bob Sharples)
