Mindfulness is paying attention to the moment and training the mind to do that. This is a basic definition of Mindfulness.
My own definition is:
“Mindfulness is being alive and awake to our thoughts, feelings and environment from moment to moment while connecting to and moving through a place of alert stillness.”
Most people live their lives in “autopilot,” lost in memories of the past or the imagination of a future all the time missing out on the precious moments of the present.
We are not fully present for our children, family and friends, for the wonder and beauty of nature that surrounds us. We are not paying attention while we are eating, working, walking, talking; we are not paying attention to the majority of things we do every day in life.
Our mind becomes disconnected from our body as we become so involved with the dramas, stories and running commentaries of the self-talk from our memories or imagination. As a consequence we cease to listen to the body’s intelligence, that is our intuitive feelings and body sensations; we somehow don’t trust them anymore.
Mindfulness allows me to notice in a moment if I am over stimulated ( jittery, jumpy, heart beating faster) or under stimulated ( numbness, lethargy) or if I feel regulated (calm).
Mindfulness practices and meditation give us tools to self regulate our feelings, emotions and thoughts from moment to moment and allow us to reconnect the body and mind bringing us back “Home” to a healthier happier and more fulfilling way of life; to a place of “Alert Stillness.”
