What exactly is mindfulness, also called mindful awareness?

To put it simply: living life as it is in real time, with mental clarity, emotional openness, and patient resolve. The basic instruction in mindfulness practice is to place our attention on what we're doing now, and to avoid trying to control anything, which is a stress-producing habit for many of us. While it has grown out of the Buddhist tradition, it isn’t, of itself, a religious or spiritual practice, it is a technique which trains the brain to focus on one thing at a time and to put aside critical and judgemental thinking and notice people and events with more compassion and empathy. 

 

Mindfulness helps us change our relationship with the thoughts and events that cause stress. Rather than trying to think differently or block anything out, we instead become able to notice when we are caught up in things and simply return our attention to the present.

 

A growing body of scientific research supports what contemplatives have known for centuries: mindfulness and meditation develop a set of life skills that allow children, teens, and parents to relate to what’s happening within and around them with more wisdom and compassion. 

 

You can practise mindfulness wherever you are, in countless moments of the day, either in formal meditation or informally while you’re brushing your teeth, driving through traffic or listening to a friend. The essence of it is to purposefully bring your attention to what your body is feeling, your posture, or your breathing and thus to increase your awareness of what is really happening with a calm and kind attitude. 

 

Alexandra has qualified as a Youth Mindfulness Practitioner and runs the Kids Programme in primary schools for 7-11 year olds and the SOMA Programme for teenagers. She is a Mindfulness Coach offering personal and family coaching sessions.