WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
"Knowing what is happening while it is happening without preference or judgment"- Rob Nairn (Co-Founder of the UK based Mindfulness Association)
"Paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally.” –Jon Kabat Zinn (Professor of Medicine at the USA based Stress Reduction Clinic)
Mindfulness is not a fix or a form of therapy, it is a skill that is grown over time. It is learning to cultivate kindness, compassion and acceptance towards ourselves and others.
It focuses on thoughts, emotions and sensations and how they interact with each other. All this is done as if we had a beginners mind, curious and open.
HOW DOES MINDFULNESS WORK?
Mindfulness works it a few ways:
Physically, formal mindfulness practice causes the relaxation response, this means your breathing slows, your blood pressure drops, you relax and feel calmer.
Using the science of the brain we can see how it reduces the reactivity of the Amygdala, the fight or flight part of your brain and become less reactive and less stressed out about things.
Psychologically, mindfulness allows you to start to feel into and experience a very natural and real sense of being OK with whatever is around at the moment.