What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is about paying attention, being in the moment, and being aware of one’s internal experience, and the feelings and experiences of others. Mindfulness is about being open hearted, compassionate and less critical and judgmental of ourselves and others. This is hard and takes practice. As social workers, this is a critical aspect of creating meaningful therapeutic alliances with our clients. As human beings, this is about creating compassionate community.

Mindfulness is a meditative practice that trains us to bring attention to our experience, as it arises in the present moment, with awareness and kindness.

Mindfulness is being in a state of awareness that cultivates insight into thoughts and emotions through observation, non-judgement and acceptance. You embody mindfulness when consciously anchoring this state in the present moment.

Mindfulness is being fully attentive to what is happening at the present moment. You are not worrying about the future or ruminating over the past. You are fully here attending to your client and his/her needs.

When countertransference arises, mindfulness helps you notice it and you are able to make sure it doesn’t interfere with your work with your client.

Ultimately, mindfulness is a practice for transformation. Typically we identify with and run our lives from the “learned or conditioned mind” – beliefs, feelings, sensations which are in the past or the future. When we practice mindfulness, we use our breath as our anchor. Over time, we develop a new place to stand – our Unconditional Self. In this place we can witness and embrace whatever comes into our awareness without judgment. The more mindful we become, the more we can leave the prison of our conditioning and be truly free.

Mindfulness is two simple words, be present. How can we be present in this current moment? Breathe. When we are in this present moment connected to our breath, we can dissolve the despair of the past and disconnect from our worries of the future. Mindfulness is not about one particular religion or spiritual movement. Mindfulness is a way to bring the mind, body and spirit into the present moment. Just breathe.

“Mindfulness is remembering to be present in the moment, learning to relate to our thoughts and our feelings in a way that goes against the grain of our conditioning. It is a way of unbecoming what we are not. This way freedom lies.” – Jon Wilde

Mindfulness is being present in my body, in my life moment by moment. It is being aware of breathing in and out, the sound, smell, feel and taste I’m experiencing right now. – Fee Hutch

Mindfulness is a personal discovery of one’s own uniqueness that comes about through the practice of letting go of one’s fallibility, and paying attention to what is left. – David

Mindfulness means paying attention to present moment experience in a gentle, accepting way. With mindful awareness, we learn to inhabit our direct, sensory experience in the body, and this gives us more choice in how we respond to difficulty. – Sheila B

Mindfulness is feeling the wind in your hair and the sun on your face, intentionally creating a space to be alive and consciously aware in the here and now. To be open to the world around us with kindness and acceptance both for ourselves and others.

At Headspace, we define mindfulness as the intention to be present in the here and now, fully engaged in whatever is happening, free from distraction or judgement, with a soft and open mind.

Mindfulness is the fruit of meditation. Mindfulness without meditation is just a word.

Mindfulness is a state of being attuned to the present moment and offers a powerhouse of potential benefits. The skill of being mindful can act as a buffer against stress, worry and sadness, bring attention to thoughts, feelings and physical sensations, allow for acceptance, increase resilience and with regular practice, literally rewire the brain.

To me, mindfulness is a deliberate effort to slow down, reflect, and be present; instead of racing and charging ahead, the focus becomes the feelings, sensations, thoughts, and reflections of the present moment. Mindfulness has helped me to experience my days more fully and has encouraged extended and expanded gratitude. It is so easy to be thankful when you experience your moments entirely.

In its purest form, mindfulness practice is about bringing our attention to the present moment. In its expanded version, it also includes the wisdom to know what to include in our field of awareness, and how to be with it.

Mindfulness is essentially remembering to pay attention to the present moment, but for people coming to Mindfulness with a fresh pair of eyes, a fuller definition could be:

Mindfulness is about staying in the present moment by remembering to gently pay attention to the coming and going of different phenomena that emerge in one’s internal and subject experience, without dwelling upon, or becoming overly attached to them.

Mindfulness is a simple and very powerful practice of training our attention. It’s simple in that it’s really just about paying attention to what’s happening here and now (i.e. sensations, thoughts, and emotions) in a non-judgemental way. It’s powerful because it can interrupt the habit of getting lost in thoughts, mostly about the future or past, which often generates more stress on top of the real pressures of everyday life.

Mindfulness is connecting to one’s inner self by bringing awareness to the present moment. It is being aware of and honoring personal thoughts and feelings, while knowing that the present moment is all a person can control. It is through deliberate choice of thoughts that someone can shape and create his/her life.

Mindfulness is about being fully alive and fully human. Far more than a self-help technique, it is a path to wisdom and compassion. The simple act of resting the mind on the breath brings everyone’s natural brilliance to the fore.

Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment. That’s paying proper attention the amazing world we live in and also paying attention to our inner world , our thoughts emotions and unconscious conditioning. And with that self awareness we can exercise more conscious self control so we do less harm to ourselves and others.

Note: Mindfulness is a state of being and not an intellectual understanding.

Mindfulness is a particular kind of attention in which the object of attention is not only our experience of the five physical senses and the thoughts and emotions passing through our minds, but also our intentions. Are we paying attention with the intention to ease suffering in ourselves and others, or are we passive and indifferent observers of life? Without a benevolent intention, mindfulness can become a heartless practice.

Mindfulness is a mindset. It’s a playful, open, curious approach to connecting back to one’s self in the present moment. Mindfulness is a powerful practice of tuning into and training the muscle that is our brain, much like we train our bodies at the gym. There are as many ways to practice mindfulness as one can imagine.

Mindfulness is practicing openhearted attention to present moment awareness. This is done without judgment, attachment or disturbance felt for the process or outcome while holding an objective clarity of acceptance through love, compassion and kindness for all experiences.

Mindfulness is the practice of living life with awareness. Paying attention on all levels mind, body, and spirit. Being fully aware and engaged in the present moment. When one lives mindfully they begin to see how their actions affect others and in turn how they are affected by actions of others. In this awareness one stops simply “reacting” to situations in life and rather begins acting responsibly.

Time doesn’t exist. Clocks exist. Yet most people live and die by the clock, their minds tictocking from the past to the future and back again like a dog chasing its own tail except unlike the dog no one is having any fun. The cultivation of mindfulness allows us to drop the past (it doesn’t exists anywhere but in your head) and the future (same!) so that we can participate in the only this that ‘is’: the living present. For most people, the present consists of about…one second. Imagine the presence of mind needed to fully experience one second completely and in its entirety, from start to finish. Start to finish you exclaim, whats to experience?! Its only ONE second. The more closely you hew to the present moment, the bigger, more spacious that tiny one second becomes…the meditator begins to experience the ‘divine’. Where else could that live, save in the present moment?

Mindfulness is being fully present with what is happening right now – rather than thinking about the past or future. In mindful awareness, our attention is focused the sights, sounds and sensations of each moment as they arise and pass. When practicing mindfulness, we can experience our lives without judgement and find the joy that is always there in each moment.

Mindfulness is a deep awareness of what is happening in the present moment in our body and the world around us. With mindfulness we can make better decisions on how to conduct ourselves in order to ease our suffering, promote peace and harmony in the world, and to make the most efficient and effective use of limited resources. The two main vehicles for cultivating mindfulness are mindfulness meditation and mindful living.

Mindfulness is living your life with greater awareness, attention and intention, and is rooted in cultivating a deep connection to your breath, which continually draws you back into the here and now. It’s about getting out of your head and all the stories we create, and into your body, which reflects your preset moment experience. Practicing mindfulness is allowing whatever is arising in the moment to exist, without judgment, and creating space around it – to see it, honor it and acknowledge it, enabling you to make a conscious choice in how to respond rather than react to it.

Mindfulness is the practice of being fully present with the experience of each moment.

Mindfulness is, at its essence, being present. It is being present is a way that is open, attentive, non-judgmental and aware. Its roots remain in Buddhist meditation; however, it has become more of a mainstream psychological practice in recent years. When one pays attention to the present moment, thoughts, feelings and other sensations are accepted as they are without judgment or opinions being made about them. The effect is often described as feeling more open, grateful and relaxed.