What is Mindfulness and How is it Done?
We live in a fast world and at this speed we forget to control ourselves. In this article, we will examine what mindfulness means and how you can adapt the practice into your daily life.
Mindfulness, that is, awareness; It is the practice of maintaining a non-judgmental and moment-to-moment state of high or full awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. A similar definition comes from psychologist Scott Bishop, who defines mindfulness as “a non-judgmental, present-centered awareness in which every thought, feeling, and sensation that arises is accepted as it is.”
Mindfulness from yesterday to today
Much of the popularization of Mindfulness in the Western world is due to Dr. It extends to Kabat-Zinn’s work on “Conscious Awareness Training.” Kabat-Zinn became familiar with Buddhist philosophies when he met Zen practitioner Philip Kapleau. He continued to develop the Conscious Awareness Program in a scientific environment and blended what he learned from meditation training.
As his concept became popular, Kabat-Zinn published his book, “Full Living Catastrophe,” which played an important role in making mindfulness practice and meditation more accessible to mainstream circles. Mindfulness practitioners around the world have thus begun to adopt this practice in their daily lives.
Nowadays, we see that most people equate mindfulness with meditation. Meditation is an extremely powerful way to cultivate awareness on your mindfulness journey, but that’s not all. Mindfulness movement and practices have been in life for a long time. Think about how you react when you think you’re not good at something: puzzles, for example. What do you do when a puzzle is put in front of you? You’re probably telling yourself, “I’m no good at this” or “I’ll look like an idiot” if I try to solve this puzzle. This thought distracts you from working on the puzzle.
What would it be like if you just thought about what it would be like to work on the puzzle, without any concerns or judgments about your performance? How would you react if you experienced each thought or feeling directly, accepting it without needing to understand or explore it further?
If you do exactly this kind of practice regularly for a while, you will begin to see habitual patterns that automatically cause you to react negatively or unhelpfully and experience stress. By observing rather than reacting, you develop a broader perspective and exhibit more effective behavior.
Developing a fixed, non-reactive attention is often different from the situations we are accustomed to in daily life. Many of us spend much of our lives on autopilot, unaware of what we are experiencing and missing all the sights, sounds, smells, connections and joys we enjoy. In some of these moments, our mind is closed, and at other times it is stuck in thoughts from the past, regrets or repetitive future plans. When we notice something in the present, our habit is often to immediately judge and react quickly. This response often operates from a faulty or limited perspective that limits our options or creates problems.
Mindfulness, on the other hand, helps us be present in our lives and gives us some control over our reactions and repetitive thought patterns. It helps us pause, get a clearer picture of the situation, and respond more skillfully.
Which practice is right for me?
Breathing awareness is considered one of the most common ways to develop mindfulness, but as we mentioned before, there is no single “correct” practice. Different practices direct attention to sensations in the body, sounds, and even open awareness of whatever arises, while also helping to develop a steady attention that is firmly grounded in the present moment.
It is not easy to practice mindfulness all the time because experiences occur naturally in daily life and can divert your attention, but with practice you can increase this skill and pay attention to the object you choose without getting lost in other experiences. In today’s social media age, where opinions, likes and comments are popular and decisive, you will see how different and comforting a non-judgmental situation is for you as soon as you find the right practice for you.
Whether you use it to cope with anxiety or improve your concentration skills, Mindfulness will open many doors for you. To benefit from all these benefits, all you need to do is find the mindfulness practice that suits you
