You’ve likely heard the term mindfulness, but do you know what it is?

To be mindful is to pay attention to your mental and physical experience, and to be connected and curious about how your thoughts come and go. It forces you to look within and is structured to help you identify how you are really feeling – what is on your mind? Is there a part of your body that is feeling pain? Can you relax and breathe in and out, or is something on your mind and getting in the way of your mindfulness?

While allowing thoughts to enter and exit, you learn about yourself and the details of your innermost feelings. By looking within, you’ll know better what your next steps should be, and will feel less frustrated by anxiety and stress as you will have a fuller picture and understanding of your stressors. Mindfulness gives a dialogue on how to speak to yourself and allows you to recognize what your body needs.

Through deep breathing exercises and allowing intense thoughts to enter the mind without judgement or avoidance, you may feel a sense of relief, freedom, and understanding. Building a practice of mindfulness can provide the opportunity to reset and bring solutions to current life issues.

Once you’ve learnt how to practice this meditation, mindfulness can become a daily practice to be used to off-set moments of anguish. In addition to practicing mindfulness, many people also use guided apps or audios to help them focus on meditation and to avoid distractions from the outside world. These guides can also focus on specific topics that are bothering you and relieve some of the stress.

As an example, here is a step-by-step guide on how to practice mindfulness as a beginner.

  • Sit in a comfortable seat. Feel your body against the chair, your hands resting on your legs, and your feet upon the floor. Notice how you feel.
  • Observe your breath. Start to deepen your breath.
  • Do a head-to-toe mental scan of the body and identify how you feel at each part.
  • Allow thoughts to come and go. When you notice a thought coming in, allow it to enter your mind, but eventually refocus your attention back to the breath and the body.
  • Notice how you feel. Close your eyes to avoid distractions if that helps you to focus your attention and connection.
  • Practice being in the moment.

References

Larkin-Wong, K. (2012). A Newbie’s Impression: One Student’s Mindfulness Lessons. Journal of Legal Education, 61(4), 665–673. http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 42894257

Shonin, E., Van Gordon, W., & Griffiths, M. D. (2015). Does mindfulness work? BMJ: British Medical Journal, 351. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26523903

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