Mindfulness - What does it mean?

You have probably heard of the latest wellbeing buzz word 'mindfulness' but what is this latest trend and what does it mean for your own wellbeing?

Mindfulness may seem to be a recent thing but in fact it has been taught for thousands of years. It was introduced to mainstream teachings through scientific study by an American professor named Jon Kabat-Zinn. Here’s how he would describe his findings ‘Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally’

So let’s look a little further into what that means. Our attention tends to wander and much of the time it wanders off into the past or projects into the future. In fact, research carried out by psychologists at Harvard university found that about 47% of waking hours are spent thinking about what isn’t going on. Now if we imagine for a moment that we are destined to live for 100 years, that would amount to an incredible 47 years of our lives spent daydreaming instead of living.

So why is it so important that we are present? When we are busy wandering around in our heads there may be elements of anxiety for the future or regret for the past. We may find ourselves projecting into what is to come, making mental lists and ticking off tasks with anticipation. On the other side when we ruminate, we may go over and over past events trying to make sense or better prepare for things in the future.

The problem we have is that as long as our attention is wandering into the past or the future, right now we are simply not here and here is the only thing we have. The past has gone and is unchangeable and the future has not yet arrived and is unpredictable, no matter how many times we go over and analyse them.

From an evolutionary basis this may be incredibly useful; it’s possible that all this mental chatter is a contributory factor in how we became top of the food chain. However, in this day and age these same primitive instincts could be holding us back from living a happier, healthier life.

When we are present we are experiencing life as it is right now, in this very moment for everything which it is: the good, the bad and the downright ugly, by doing so we can experience a life which is much richer, vibrant and alive.

By practising being present we can improve our own happiness and wellbeing. When we are constantly fighting against our circumstances, if we are bored or dissatisfied or thinking about something else we are missing lots of small details which can make our life richer and more enjoyable.

We all experience moments of mindfulness from time to time, those big moments that take your breath away when we are fully absorbed. When a baby is born, when we reach a mountain top or when we do something new or dangerous which requires our full attention, it makes us feel alive. Why do you think adrenaline sports are so popular? We love getting a rush that helps us to stop and pay attention. If you’re jumping out of a plane for the first time I feel pretty certain you won’t be worrying about a disagreement from last week or planning for a job that needs completing next week.

It’s important to recognize that our lives aren’t always going to be at this ‘high’ and this is where mindfulness comes in. When you practice mindfulness you are essentially training your day to day awareness to bring your attention into the present moment, without trying to change it, accepting it for what it is; your perfectly imperfect life, right now, exactly as it is.