Mindfulness is having a conscious awareness of our thoughts, feelings and the sensations in our body at any given moment. It is a practice to quieten the external noise, busy mind chatter of racing thoughts or overstimulation. We are often too busy with the task at hand, thinking about past events or worrying about what may happen in the future that we forget to pay attention to what’s happening in the now.
The goal of mindfulness is to feel calm and relaxed, and to connect with oneself. To be mindful is to observe our thoughts and feelings without judging or labelling them as “good” or “bad”.
You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.
Pema Chödrön
There are many benefits of practicing mindfulness. It can aid physical and emotional relaxation which is beneficial in reducing stress, depression or anxiety. It can enable you to reach a deeper understanding and help you to focus on things that are in your control and let go of the ones that are out of your control.
Mindfulness is a practice that can be integrated as a daily routine or as and when needed. One way you can practice mindfulness is to observe the sunset. Notice the pallete of colours across the sky and the changes in the intensity of the sunlight as the sun goes down. Open your senses to listen to the sounds all around you and watch the birds as they fly by. Your mind may wander with thoughts of the past or future. Gently bring your attention back to simply observing the beautiful process of being present in the moment that is often awe-inspiring.