What is Mindfulness?

Understanding mindfulness provides a foundation for using this practice to gain benefits in all areas of your life.

Mindfulness is the opposite of mindlessness, which is the state you are in when you are distracted, hurried, multitasking or overloaded – which is probably most of the time!

The good news is that you can teach yourself to be aware of the present moment in a relaxed, open, non-judgemental way. The key to triggering this state is to connect to your senses.

The idea of mindfulness has its roots in meditative, spiritual traditions where conscious attention and awareness are actively developed, so we may see things as they really are.

You may think the term mindfulness suggests that the mind is full of something. To be careful means that your mind is full of care, so mindful could mean that your mind is full of thought about something, for example “Be mindful of small children crossing the road since school is starting today”.

The state of mindfulness referred to in this learning module is where the mind has full awareness of what is occurring in the moment. It is fully aware of the sensations, sounds and feelings happening outside ourselves and within our body and mind. Mindfulness is the clear and single-minded awareness of what is happening around and within us in an open, relaxed, non-judgmental way.

The non-judgments about whether we like or dislike something; whether something is good or bad, right or wrong. Non-judgmental means not having an egotistical bias.

Mindfulness requires an open, receptive awareness and attention. It also requires that the body and mind are relaxed with the attention open. If the body or mind is tense then the awareness will be limited and narrow. Relaxing means letting go of tensions, frustrations and expectations that become embedded consciously or unconsciously in the mind and body.

The present moment is experienced by connecting with your five senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and sound. Right now, relax any tension in your body, feel the weight of the body on the chair, and listen to the sounds around you without thinking about them or judging them – just listen to them. For the few seconds you are doing this, you are in the present.

Mindfulness is a relaxed, open, non-judgmental awareness of what is occurring now.  

Research on Mindfulness

Not long-ago mindfulness and meditation were dismissed as pseudo-scientific self-help techniques, but have now gained significant scientific interest. In the last twenty years many scientific research studies have examined the physical, mental, social and work benefits of mindfulness and meditation.

Two recent meta-studies have summarised the results of several years of mindfulness research: “What are the Benefits of Mindfulness?” by Daphne Davis and Jeffrey Hayes, and “Brief Summary of Mindfulness Research” by Greg Flaxman and Lisa Flook. They summarise individual research studies and the outcomes of mindfulness and meditation training and practice.

According to these studies, there is a growing body of evidence that meditation and mindfulness lead to improvements in many areas. As you look over the following list, tick areas you would like mindfulness practice to help you with.

Improved physical and mental health:

• Fewer headaches

• Improved sleep

• Fewer colds and less severity of symptoms

• Improved mood and less emotional reactivity

• Reduced chronic pain

• Reduced stress-related disorders

• More mental flexibility

• Enhanced intuition

• Lower blood pressure

• Fewer heart attacks and lower likelihood of second heart attack

• Reduced recurrence of cancer

• Slowing of the aging process

• Reduced substance abuse

• Fewer symptoms of depression

Improved self-esteem and relationships:

• Higher self-esteem

• Greater life satisfaction

• Improved relationship with partner

• Improved quality of communication

• Healthcare workers report increased compassion and reduced stress

• Parents of children with disability suffer less parental stress

Improvement in children and adolescent behaviour:

• Improved academic performance

• Greater self-control

• Improved social skills

• Decreased anxiety

• Increased sense of calm, connection to nature and improved sleep

• Reduced aggressive behaviour

Improved work performance:

• Increased attention with less distracting thoughts

• Increased information processing speed

• More rational decision-making

• Decreased tendency for negative emotions

• Improved memory

• Faster reaction times

• Increased mental and physical stamina

• Improved trust, teamwork and communications

• Greater job satisfaction

• Reduced employee turnover and absenteeism

Research on the benefits of mindfulness provides credibility, but the most convincing evidence is if you experience the benefits yourself. It is often the desire to improve our own health, reduce the stressful part of our life and perform at our best that leads to mindfulness practices.

You can listen to our guided mindfulness practices on Anchor here, or join our weekly drop-in sessions on Tuesdays.