What Mindfulness Is and Isn't
Mindfulness means that we are practicing
Practicing reminds us that our understanding of what mindfulness means grows over time.
being aware of our present moment experience
It’s like taking the temperature of the mind-body system: what’s going on now, beginning with awareness of the breath and body.
with the intention
Intention lets go of ‘should’ and ‘expectation’ and ‘doing it right.’
to be curious and
Think of the curiosity of a three-year old child or a scientist who loves his/her research.
to be kind, accepting, and non-judgmental toward ourselves and what we are experiencing.
These three words are essentially interchangeable in leaning toward a meditative attitude. One will generally resonate best for you.
Mindfulness is a quality of being that we cultivate over time. Mindfulness is being fully aware of what is coming in through the senses more clearly with as little bias as possible, and being aware of our conditioned biases.
Accept does not mean passive resignation. It means being fully aware of how the mind-body-system is now. It means to accept that you are having the experience that you are having. When we are not accepting, we are either trying harder to concentrate or to have the experience we think we should have.
Jon Kabat-Zinn has clarified non-judgmental: “it means suspending judgment. It doesn’t mean having no judgments or forcing oneself to be nonjudgmental. Rather it means that one doesn’t judge how judgmental one is.”….“By cultivating mindfulness, one is adding another dimension to the picture, but without trying to fix anything or make anything go away” [1]. This can break many long-standing habits that are not healthy, for example, rumination, resentment, carrying grudges, etc.
Many psychologists and spiritual teachers have stated that we are habitual creatures and we generally response to life’s circumstances in habitual patterns of reactivity. One of the primary outcomes of mindfulness practice is that we can notice that pause between stimulus and response more often. When we notice that pause, we are able to choose our response rather than simply make the habitual reaction. That makes such a difference!
[1] “Becoming conscious: the science of mindfulness,” Paulson, Davidson, Jha, and Kabat-Zinn, The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2013, p. 94.