What is Mindfulness?
There has been good evidence that Mindfulness-based practices can benefit us in reducing stress and anxiety, increasing focus, improving mood, general mental and emotional well-being.
A common misunderstanding of Mindfulness is that it is simply Mindful Meditation and that can put some people off. Similarly, if the only way to work our physical bodies’ core muscles was to do sit ups and planks, we might all struggle. Mindful Meditation is a great way to strengthen the “mindful muscle” through formal practice. This allows us to anchor into the present moment, find safety within our body, monitor and attend to our thoughts and emotions in a wise and effective way. We can exercise this brain-muscle in many ways through various types of informal mindfulness practice. For example, we can practice mindful eating, taking a mindful walk, and practice mindfulness in almost any tasks with focus and non-judgementally.
If we take the physical analogy a little further, Mindfulness to mental health is similar to “core strength” to physical strength. Just as core strength is a foundation for many sports and activities, Mindfulness practice can help us better learn and implement many of the other skills and therapies. In fact, therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) have mindfulness or modules built into their structure, making mindfulness a ‘core’ skill.
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