What is Mindfulness? Are Mindfulness and Meditation the same thing?
How can I become more mindful? In this video, we will examine the meaning of mindfulness as well as
how it relates to meditation. We will also discuss a few ways you can become a more mindful person.
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Mindfulness vs Meditation Although Mindfulness and meditation
share some common ground, they are not the same thing. Mindfulness is the awareness of something,
while meditation is the awareness of nothing. “So how can mindfulness be a form of meditation,
then?” You might ask… Well let me explain. If meditation is the awareness of nothing,
how can there be a form of it that specifically calls for the awareness of something?
When we meditate, we don’t accept any thoughts that pop into our mind. Our goal is to become
wholly present and thoughtless. It is a disregard for all thought, with our awareness solely focused
on the present moment. There are many, many forms of meditation, and mindful meditation is one of
them. The thing that makes mindfulness meditation unique is how we pay attention to our thoughts,
as opposed to disregarding them. When we practice mindfulness meditation, we are still not
subjectively engaged our thoughts, as we remain the watcher of them, but we pay them attention.
But Mindfulness isn’t just about paying attention, it is about how we pay attention.
What is Mindfulness? Mindfulness is the practice
of paying attention to the present moment on purpose with an attitude of non-judgement. It
is tuning into what we’re sensing in the present moment but not engaging with those thoughts or
sensations beyond our awareness of them. It is accepting the thoughts and sensations that arise,
but not forming an opinion of them or putting an effort towards making them go away.
Mindfulness is observing what the present moment has to say for itself instead of observing what
you have to say about it. In other words, it is observing our thoughts and feelings
without thinking or feeling them. Instead, we maintain a moment-by-moment awareness of them
through a gentle, nurturing lens. Instead of the one thinking those thoughts, we become the
one observing them. We go from thinking and feeling our thoughts and sensations through
a subjective lens, to observing our thoughts and sensations through an objective lens. If you’re
not aware of the difference between subjectivity and objectivity, check out the video in the top
right of your screen where we explain just that in a quick, 5-minute video. Now, let’s talk about
how you can become a more mindful person and the benefits that come along with doing so.
How to Become More Mindful Research from Harvard has recently shown us
that the average American spends 47% of their life not paying attention to what they are doing. Also,
at the times they weren’t paying attention to what they were doing, they were noticeably less
happy. This highlights the fact that not only is mindfulness directly correlated to happiness,
but most Americans are not practicing mindfulness in their day-to-day lives.
Here are few ways you can incorporate mindful thinking into your daily routine.
The word mindfulness literally translates to “The State of Being Full of Mind”,
and it can technically be applied to whatever you’re doing at any given time. But we will look
at a few specific applications that will allow you to reap the most benefits. But first, if you are
enjoying this video please give it a thumbs up so we know we are giving you the content you desire.
Mindfulness to Become More Open Minded Mindfulness can be used to change our
perspective of the world by allowing us to be more open-minded. You can begin by something
as simple as identifying your personal biases. Everyone has personal biases,
although some of us don’t want to admit it, and identifying these biases for ourselves
leads to a greater understanding of who we are and our tendencies. To do so, remember a time
when you weren’t fully open to the suggestions of others. Why did you shut these suggestions
off? Did they challenge your own thoughts on how things should be done? Were you taken off
guard by it? Did you evaluate the idea with the possibility of its potential benefits in mind,
or were you solely focused on, and perhaps looking for, all the reasons it wouldn’t work?
By bringing your awareness to these patterns of close-minded thinking,
or by becoming more mindful of them, you can start to reflect on what caused you to react that way
and you will be able to recognize these patterns when they start to happen again.
Mindfulness to Become More Aware The next time you are experiencing
unpleasant thoughts or emotions, try not to push them away – do your very best not
to suppress them, but instead ask yourself what might be causing you to experience them.
As opposed to just feeling the sensations or thinking the thoughts,
ask yourself what exactly is causing you to feel or think these things. Why do they cause
you to think and feel this way? Don’t judge the thoughts and feelings, and don’t judge
the reason you are thinking and feeling them. Just watch them come, and then watch them leave.
Mindfulness to Relieve Stress and Anxiety Mindfulness can be leveraged not only to
decrease stress you currently have in your life, but also to ensure that future stressors have
less of an impact on our happiness and physical well-being. Stepping back from the thoughts and
emotions we experience allows us to avoid engaging with them. This engagement is responsible for the
triggering of a stress response, and taking an objective perspective avoids that stress response
so that it’s never triggered in the first place. This objectivity also keeps us from reacting,
and instead allows us to step back and evaluate the situation so that we can respond more