Mindfulness 

Be the one who is present in your life

"A mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique" 

Pay Attention to Your Focus

Mindfulness is the practice of purposefully focusing all of your attention on the current moment, and accepting it without judgment. This is a great place to start if you are looking for the key element in happiness.

Done correctly, mindfulness will allow you to decrease your stress and anxiety, minimize the amount of time that you spend feeling overwhelmed, and help you appreciate each small moment as it happens. In a world of chaos, mindfulness might just be the trick you need to learn to be able to cope with the madness. (S.J. Scott, 2020)

 

Mechanisms of Mindfulness - Monitor and Acceptance Theory (MAT)

"Although many conceptualizations of mindfulness have been offered (including uni- and multidimensional approaches), two components are commonly described across mindfulness definitions and measures: (1) the use of attention to monitor one’s present moment experiences, and (2) a mental attitude of acceptance toward momentary experience" (Lindsay & Creswel, 2018)

  • Mindfulness and mindfulness training are associated with a broad range of outcomes.

  • MAT describes mechanisms of mindfulness for cognition, affect, stress, and health.

  • Attention monitoring improves cognitive outcomes and increases affect reactivity.

  • Monitoring and acceptance interact to improve stress, affect, and health outcomes.

  • MAT is a testable account that seeks to stimulate mechanistic mindfulness research.

"A new study indicates that people who practiced mindfulness over an eight-week period had a striking change in the expression of 172 genes that regulate inflammation, circadian rhythms and glucose metabolism. And that, in turn, was linked to a meaningful decrease in their blood pressure" (Knox, 2018)

The Basics 

Mindful.Org, 2020

"Mindfulness helps us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our conditioned responses. Here’s how to tune into mindfulness throughout the day:

  1. Set aside some time. You don’t need a meditation cushion or bench, or any sort of special equipment to access your mindfulness skills—but you do need to set aside some time and space.

  2. Observe the present moment as it is. The aim of mindfulness is not quieting the mind, or attempting to achieve a state of eternal calm. The goal is simple: we’re aiming to pay attention to the present moment, without judgment. Easier said than done, we know.

  3. Let your judgments roll by. When we notice judgments arise during our practice, we can make a mental note of them, and let them pass.

  4. Return to observing the present moment as it is. Our minds often get carried away in thought. That’s why mindfulness is the practice of returning, again and again, to the present moment.

  5. Be kind to your wandering mind. Don’t judge yourself for whatever thoughts crop up, just practice recognizing when your mind has wandered off, and gently bring it back.

That’s the practice. It’s often been said that it’s very simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. The work is to just keep doing it. Results will accrue" Mindful.Org, 2020

"The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes"

Mindfulness Articles