by guest blogger Jeffrey Brantley, M.D.

The word mindfulness appears frequently in the popular culture and media these days.  In addition, a growing number of professionals are exploring and offering mindfulness-based activities to their clients.

But, what exactly is mindfulness?

While there are many definitions available, mindfulness can be understood simply as an awareness that arises in the present moment when one pays attention on purpose in a non-judging, friendly and allowing way to whatever is happening.

Some have likened mindfulness to a good mirror that accurately reflects whatever appears before it.

Being mindful involves a willingness to “be” with experience, conscious of it, just like the mirror simply is there, reflecting the object in front of it.  

Each human being has the potential for mindfulness, but it may take intention and some work to realize your potential.    

And, it is important to remember that  the field for practicing mindfulness most certainly includes the experience of your inner life—thoughts, sensations, feelings, sights, sounds, smells, and tastes—as well as the experiences in the world beyond your own skin.  


Why Practice Mindfulness?


You have probably already experienced mindfulness, even if you didn’t call it that or never thought of practicing it.  For example, stepping outside, the moment when you feel the cool wind on your face—before any thoughts about it or anything else come—or the moment you awaken in the night and notice the flow of worried thinking, before you get “stuck” in it—those are moments of mindfulness.

Modern science has determined that learning to cultivate and sustain this knowing awareness called mindfulness in more and more moments of your life can have a profound impact upon your health and well being.

Improvements in stress reactivity, in pain management, weight management, and a variety of psychological conditions including anxiety and depression, have been noted in individuals who learned and practiced mindfulness.  In addition, neuroscientists are now discovering that the brain actually changes in response to how it is used, and that people who meditate regularly can be shown to develop changes in their brain activity and structures that correlate with self-reports of greater ease and less distress.

Such scientific findings are consistent with the advice of meditation teachers from ancient times to the present.  They have long encouraged their students to practice mindfulness because it offers a path to greater self-understanding, more ease in living, and greater happiness.


Incorporating Mindfulness Into Your Life

     
Incorporating mindfulness into your life can begin with the knowledge that you have the capacity for it, and that it is a good thing to do.   So, having the intention to be mindful is a first step.

Then, having a practice or method can help.

For example:

• Focus on bodily sensations as a mindfulness practice.  Sitting quietly, gently begin to notice the sensations in your body, allowing yourself to feel the position of your limbs, and any areas of pressure or holding.  Include sensations of warmth and coolness, and moisture or dryness.  Keep noticing the flow of sensations, bringing attention back to them whenever it wanders, or
  
  
• Focus mindfully on the sensations of your breath coming and going in your body.  Any time you like, gently bring attention to the place where you feel the breath sensations most easily in your body.  This is an awareness practice, not a breathing exercise, so practice letting your body breathe naturally as you remain present, noticing the sensations with your soft and allowing attention.
  
  
• In an activity of daily life, like walking, eating, or washing dishes, pause and for a few breaths, deliberately pay attention mindfully to the sensations, sounds, smells, and tastes that are flowing through the moment.  Allow yourself to notice each experience or sensation, releasing it as it changes, and opening to the next sensation.

In each of these examples, remembering to work wisely with your thoughts when they appear is very important.

That means knowing that the thoughts are not the enemy.  You don’t have to fight your thoughts while practicing mindfulness, and you don’t have to follow them, either.  Instead, notice and release them, and return your focus to the place you have selected.

Incorporating mindfulness into your life is likely easier than you may have thought, and the benefits can be surprising and profound!

You just have to remember to do it, and to make a commitment to practicing paying attention mindfully to objects and experiences you may not ordinarily pay attention to, always in a friendly and non-judging way.

In my future blogs, we will explore more deeply the recognized benefits of mindfulness, the core attitudes and skills, and some common obstacles that people encounter as they begin to bring mindfulness forward in their lives.

Jeffrey Brantley, M.D. is a consulting associate in the Duke Department of Psychiatry and the founder and director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke University's Center for Integrative Medicine.  He is coauthor of the Five Good Minutes® series, The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, Calming Your Anxious Mind, and Daily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious Mind.