Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a word which seems to be on the tip of everyone's tongue but what is actually mindfulness? The definition of mindfulness is 'moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, characterized mainly by 'acceptance'- attention to thoughts and feelings without judging whether they are right or wrong'. In other words it is the  effort to be continuously present with experience in the present moment with out judgement.

Mindfulness has been around for thousands of years and has often been spoken of as the heart of buddhist meditation. In recent years however the practice of mindfulness has become much more mainstream through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and his Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR). Thousands of studies have been done since, of the benefits that mindfulness has on the physical and mental self especially helping with stress, depression and anxiety. 

In my personal life i have been practicing mindfulness based meditation for over 18 months now and i have found that when i am actively practicing meditation i find myself able to cope with the stresses of daily life with clarity and calmness. On the contrary, in moments i am unable to practice meditation is when i find myself most unclear. Through mindfulness i am able to acknowledge the stresses in my life, but i am able to choose not to respond or react to them.

 A valuable exercise i have endeavoured to practice regularly with myself and my children is the art of gratitude. As my daily practice i acknowledge 3 things that i am grateful for. Just by doing this simple exercise has allowed me to be grateful for the things that i have in my life rather than to dwell on the things that i don't. By simply being grateful on a daily basis is a sure way to improve self esteem and happiness. Quite often when i find my children in a constant battle with each other i sit them down to voice to each other 3 things that they are grateful for and to take it one step further i ask them to acknowledge one thing they like about the other and to also acknowledge one thing that they did well at in the past 24 hours. I find this exercise for starters stops the fighting and it is my hope that they can start to learn gratitude on a continual basis.

So it has been that through my practice of mindfulness that i have learnt to be more present in my daily life, learning to acknowledge the emotions that i am confronted with and learning how to (or not to) respond to them appropriately. Through this practice i have learnt to bring about calmness and happiness into my life allowing for greater clarity of self to emerge.