What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness seems like a way of life reserved for those who commit many hours of their lives to silence, but luckily for you and me, this is not the case as even we can become mindfulness gurus with a little direction and effort.

But before we go any further, let’s answer: What exactly is mindfulness? Two words can summarize the practice of being mindful: “be present”. Oxford defines mindfulness as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment…”; in other words, you just need to be totally present with each moment in the day.  Pretty easy, right? All you have to do is focus on one thing at a time, but in a society that glorifies multitasking, this simple task is actually difficult in practice. For example, picture the last time you were walking somewhere, did you ever pay attention to the stretching of your leg muscles, or maybe the feeling of your foot stepping on the pavement? Probably not. 

So coming back to my earlier point, how do you build your mindfulness muscle? The most obvious answer is meditation, and today there are so many different options to choose from such as Headspace, Calm, Waking up, and many more. I highly recommend starting your mindfulness journey via one of those apps. When you first begin meditating, it only takes around 5 minutes per day, which is obtainable even for the busiest of people. Remember though, meditation is not something done in a vacuum, as those 5 minutes you spend in meditation impact your everyday life. The goal of mindfulness is not to see how long you can meditate, but rather how long you can be present in everyday life, like those walks we talked about earlier.

You may be wondering, will mindfulness even have any benefits for someone like me? The answer is a resounding yes - no matter where you look. Decreased stress? Yep. Increased focus? Check. Reduced anxiety? Yes again. Improved relationships? That too. 

Now look, I know it is easy to hear something is good for you, but a whole other challenge to actually put it into practice. Maybe meditation seems daunting right now, I get that. So here is an easy challenge you can apply in your everyday life to be more mindful, created by the Headspace founder Andy Puddicome: everytime you go from standing to sitting or sitting to standing try and acknowledge it. For example, when you stand up after reading this article, think to yourself “I’m standing up now”. Sounds easy at first, but trust me it’s a lot trickier than you think. 

For me personally it has changed my perspective on so many things. Meditation has invoked a greater sense of gratitude in me, improved my relationships with others, and most of all allowed me to accept the good and the bad in my life and move forward in a positive way. 

Sources: Oxford Languages & https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/ce-corner