What is Mindfulness?

Have you attempted to learn to meditate and had difficult time quieting your mind and body?  I have!  Being challenged with ADHD often feels as though I’m aways moving - inside and out - and always thinking. To settle my body and my mind is equally challenging, at times.  I have tried lots of meditation techniques: moving meditation such as Tai Chi or yoga, Transcendental Meditation, mantra meditations, guided meditations.  I either fell asleep or notice my thoughts were unfocused or were focused on my To-Do list or wondering what musical group sang the song floating around in my head.  While many people consider ‘meditation’ and ‘mindfulness’ to be the same thing, they are not.

In her article, “Mindfulness vs meditation: What's the difference?”, Catriona Harvey-Jenner interviewed Andy Puddicombe, the founder of the Headspace app and a former Buddhist monk.  Here is what he has to say about the difference between meditation and mindfulness: “‘In the West, mindfulness and meditation are used interchangeably. But they are two really different things.  Mindfulness is the ability to be present, undistracted with an open curious mind and a kind heart. The gentle, warm kind of feeling. On the other hand, meditation is an exercise where we learn to be more mindful, but away from everyday life. It’s a little bit like going to the gym and going on the treadmill so we can be fit and active and functional in everyday life. So basically, mindfulness is the overarching concept, while meditation is an exercise to help you achieve it. In meditation we learn how to be mindful, how to be present, and how to be undistracted so we can then apply that in everyday life.

The reason the meditation expert sees the differentiation as being so important is because the time spent doing each one varies. If we think that meditation is the whole deal, and we only meditate for 10 minutes a day, then there’s 23 hours and 50 minutes of the day that aren’t being addressed.’  What Andy believes we should strive for is to achieve mindfulness in as much of our everyday lives as possible, while meditating is just one part of that” (qtd. in https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a32625381/mindfulness-meditation-difference/).

Another article, “What is Mindfulness?”, the authors define mindfulness this way: “Mindfulness. It’s a pretty straightforward word. It suggests that the mind is fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, to the space you’re moving through. That might seem trivial, except for the annoying fact that we so often veer from the matter at hand. Our mind takes flight, we lose touch with our body, and pretty soon we’re engrossed in obsessive thoughts about something that just happened or fretting about the future. And that makes us anxious. Yet no matter how far we drift away, mindfulness is right there to snap us back to where we are and what we’re doing and feeling. If you want to know what mindfulness is, it’s best to try it for a while. Since it’s hard to nail down in words, you will find slight variations in the meaning in books, websites, audio, and video.Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Mindfulness is a quality that every human being already possesses, it’s not something you have to conjure up, you just have to learn how to access it” (https://www.mindful.org/what-is-mindfulness/).

Okay, so how and why do we include mindfulness to our lives? in her article, Dr. Tiffany Sauber-Millacci, shares, “Critical for mental wellness, mindfulness is being fully present and non-judgmentally aware of the current moment. Mindfulness has countless positive benefits on mental health, including decreased stress, anxiety, and depression levels and improved sleep, relationships, and job performance” (https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness).  For lots of ideas on how to include mindfulness, I recommend the article from mindful.org referenced in the previous paragraph.

The Buddha teaches a simple fact:“The mind is everything.  What you think, you become.” And, Marcus Aurelius, my favorite Stoic and Roman Emperor, tells us, “Your soul takes on the colour of your thoughts.”  Being mindful of our thoughts helps us to shape our present and future as well as assists us in putting away our past. We don't need any special tools or mantras or candles to be mindful; it's simple and uncomplicated.

How do I include mindfulness in my life?  For me, keeping a simple gratitude journal into which I put photos of people, things, and nature that elevate my thoughts.  And, I listen to guided mindfulness sessions on my Insight Timer app.  I take a walk in nature and forgo the headphones.  Sometimes, I listen to peaceful instrumental music.  Petting the soft fur of my dog as he rests his head on my lap brings me to a mindful moment.  Doing yogic breathing exercises is another way I engage with mindfulness. To learn more about yogic breathing, check out this article: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-is-yogic-breathing#what-it-is.  Mindfulness lowers my heart rate and relaxes tension in my body.  For me, mindfulness works all the time when ‘quieting the mind’ in meditation is more challenging to me.  Of course, you can consider mindfulness a meditative practice too.

How do you or will you include mindfulness in your life? Please share your thoughts and insights by either commenting below this post if you are reading this on social media, or, if you are reading this through your email subscription, please share, by emailing me, at reimaginelife22@gmail.com.

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