Mindfulness is very fashionable these days, so although you may have heard about it, you may still be wondering “What is mindfulness?” amongst other things, so let me answer some common questions about it.

1. What is Mindfulness?

In short, it is the quality or state of being aware of your thoughts, feelings and sensations.

Mindfulness sounds so simple that it is easy to dismiss but read on to a find out a bit more because it has an extraordinary ability you to transform your life.

2. Who practices mindfulness?

Although mindfulness is a 2500-year-old Buddhist tradition, it does not require any religious beliefs.

So, if you practice mindful meditation, you are not going to have to become a monk or a hermit!

People from all walks of life Practice Mindfulness regularly, although they might not talk about it. The odd thing is that because it is an invisible practice, the person next to you might be being mindful right now but you would never know.

Anyone who wants to practice mindfulness can, whatever their age, religion or background.

3. Why practice mindfulness?

Do you want to be happy?

Of course, the answer is yes!

No one wants to be unhappy. But, at some point in your life, you are going to suffer from stress, depression, anxiety, illness or dissatisfaction. Sooner or later you may end up asking yourself questions such as:

“Why is this happening to me?”
or
“What can I do to make myself happier?”

At school, you are not taught how to deal with the challenges life throws at you, but
mindfulness is a way of focusing on the present moment which can help.

Mindfulness helps you become aware of your thought patterns.
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It is simply a way of looking at things differently, and it allows you to examine your mind patterns so you can find out what is causing you to be unhappy.

4. What are the benefits of mindfulness?

Mindfulness is good for both your mental and physical health. It helps you to relax, become aware of your thought patterns and deal with the daily challenges life brings up.

In particular:

<b)(a) It helps you deal with unpleasant feelings.
You may not have noticed, but you are always seeking ways to distract yourself or looking for ways to solve the causes of your unhappiness. Mindfulness helps you meet your unhappiness head on and get to the root of the problem.

(b) It helps you appreciate the little things in life.
It helps you become aware. When you are attentive, you fully reocognise the wonderful detail in everything around you and discover how much you have to grateful for.

(c) It retrains your brains.
There is growing scientific evidence proving the benefits of mindfulness and studies show that it can change your brain in as little as 10 minutes a day.

The actual purpose of mindfulness is to rid yourself of needless suffering. The awareness allows you to cultivate insights into how your mind works and how you relate to reality. Through these insights, mindfulness helps you to calm your mind and bring peace to your experiences.

Through mindfulness, you are re-training your mind in order to manage it.
Not only do you become more aware, but also you develop other qualities including patience and loving kindness.

(d) It helps you to examine your thoughts and bring about self-understanding.
As your awareness and acceptance increases, you will gain insights into yourself and discover you can choose how you respond to life.

(e) It is scientifically proven to be good for you.
There are a growing number of studies providing evidence that mindfulness is good for you in all sorts of ways. Why not check out these 9 scientifically proven benefits of mindfulness.

5. Will mindfulness help me empty my mind?

By practicing mindfulness you are training your mind to be aware of what it is doing all the time, so you will become aware of what you are thinking in the present moment.

Mindfulness is not about emptying your mind.

However, a lot of people who practice mindfulness believe it will empty their heads, so they become distressed when they find their minds wandering or full of thoughts. As a result, they feel a sense of agitation or become unsettled by their mental activity. But, all humans have thoughts, so this inner chatter is natural.

It is when you are mindful that you become aware of your internal voice, so it can seem to become louder when you start.

However, over time, if you practice mindfulness and meditation regularly you may find that you experience less mental chatter than before.

6. What do you need to practice mindfulness?

Nothing! You do not need any tools or equipment.

7. Where can you practice mindfulness?

You may be surprised to find out that you do not have to sit in silence to be mindful.

Instead of sitting quietly (although you can do that too), with mindfulness you focus on experiencing moments fully one at a time, and you are paying attention to the present.

So, you can practice mindfulness anywhere.

8. When can you practice mindfulness?

You can practice mindfulness at any time, no matter where you are or what you are doing (apart from when you are asleep of course!)

9. How do you practice mindfulness?

Focus your attention on your present physical experience, while calmly observing any feelings or thoughts that come up.

It is really very simple, and you can find out about how to practice mindfulness here.

10. Will mindfulness make me happier?

While everyone would love to live in a state of permanent bliss, mindfulness is not about being happy all the time.

Happiness cannot exist without unhappiness.

But, mindfulness can provide you with the foundation you need to become happier.

Without meaning to, you often bring upon yourself unwanted problems simply by trying to avoid discomfort and throwing yourself into some other sort of change-seeking activity. You do much of this on ‘auto-pilot’.

By enabling you to recognise those mental habits that cause you unhappiness you can allow and let go of any harmful thoughts and emotions.

The idea is that you allow both pleasant and unpleasant states of mind to come and go, not holding on to blissful states nor resisting unhappy ones.

Instead, you start to enjoy letting life’s experiences flow through you.

11. Will mindfulness help me deal with pain?

Practicing mindfulness meditation is not going to take away your pain, but it is a way to help you deal with it.

As you go through your life, you will always feel certain levels of physical and emotional pain. But, the more you experience and practice mindfulness, the more capacity you will have to understand, endure and control the pain.

While painful physical sensations are one part of the equation, the mental suffering caused by the pain is the other part.

To alleviate the pain from mental suffering, you need to let go of resisting the pain, protesting the pain and trying to avoid it. This way, you can experience the pain in a moment-to-moment awareness and acceptance.

Throughout your life, you can struggle with emotions when you are confronted with adverse circumstances. When you don’t get what you want, you suffer a loss and have to deal with feelings that take a downward spiral.

If you are experiencing tough times in your life, it is easy to want to distract yourself from everything that is going on. That is not what mindfulness is about.

When you are mindful you are taking the time to stop and become aware of the contents of your mind; you are becoming conscious of and noticing your emotions in a much more vivid fashion.

As you pay attention to what is happening inside you, your emotions rise to the surface, and this gives you the chance to properly process them.

It sounds counterintuitive, but mindfulness really can help.

12. What is the bottom line about mindfulness?

Mindfulness is not about adding something to your life.

Mindfulness is about taking mental constructs away so that you experience life more clearly.
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Through being mindful you will find you experience life fully, and appreciate what you have and where you are right now.

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