What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is being fully aware of what we are doing or experiencing.
So, for instance to mindfully have a shower, is to purely be engaged with having a shower, the experience of the water, of yourself washing, as opposed to showering whilst thinking about what you might have for breakfast.
To be mindful of your thoughts, is just to be aware of them as they are, a thought, a subvocal conversation you are having with yourself.
Mindfulness can be incredibly useful with therapy and that is why you see it in so many different approaches, e.g. ACT, DBT, Gestalt, Compassion focussed therapy, to name but a few.
The reason it is so popular, is that the through becoming more mindful, that can hep you to become more aware of yourself, both your inner world, desires, beliefs, and emotions and your outer world, and the effects of how you act, think, feel.
As you become more aware, you also develop a relationship with yourself and so you both disidentify from your thoughts and feelings, which can reduce their intensity and give you a pause to be able to respond with though, rather than react with speed. The later which can lead you to not always acting in your best interest.
On the other side of things, to be fully aware of what you are doing can increase the vitality of your life, your food can taste better, your world can seem more colourful as you fully engage with it.
Mindfulness can be enhanced by the practice of meditation, which can be a breathing meditation, where you anchor your attention on your breath, or a body scan where you pay attention to the sensations in your body. There are many others too. There are also informal practices where you can mindfully shower or clean your house.
This can then be applied tor mental health, where you can use a mindful approach to be aware of what you are thinking or doing, then ask yourself is it helpful, and if it’s not to return your attention to something more helpful, as you do in meditative practice.
