What is Mindfulness? Awareness of the Present Moment with Kindness

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment with kindness and curiosity. 

It involves paying a particular kind of attention to what is happening in the moment. Mindfulness is a practice of objectively noticing what is happening without judging it as pleasant/unpleasant, good/bad, right/wrong. It involves noticing what is happening in the present moment as an objective witness, watching our experience unfold, and meeting it with nonjudgment, kindness, and curiosity.

The Present Moment

We experience the present moment through sensations in the body, feelings, and thoughts. So when we say we’re noticing present moment experience, we’re paying attention to whatever sensations, feelings, and thoughts arise in the present moment. And we’re meeting them with a nonreactive attitude, just objectively observing them from the perspective of our internal witness that observes our experience. 

As we practice mindfulness, we become less reactive to our experience. We see our habitual patterns clearly, and when we see ourselves clearly, we have the freedom to change.

Mindfulness is being fully present in whatever is happening in the moment. So if we’re noticing the breath, we’re noticing the breath. If we’re washing dishes, we’re noticing the feel of the warm water and soap on our hands and any other sensations. If we’re doing laundry, we’re focusing on the sensations and movements in our body as we’re doing laundry.

Practicing Nonjudgment

Our experience of life unfolds through sensations, feelings, and thoughts. The tendency of the mind is to judge our experience as pleasant or unpleasant. If we judge it as unpleasant, our habitual pattern is to turn away from it or try to escape. Unfortunately, the things we do to try to turn away from it often create more suffering—drinking alcohol, overeating, taking more medication than prescribed, using recreational drugs, over sleeping, smoking, watching too much TV, spending too much time on the internet, etc.

If we judge our experience as pleasant, we become preoccupied with craving and clinging to it and thinking about how we can get more, which also creates suffering. With mindfulness, we attempt to practice non-judgment so that we simply notice our experience without labeling it as pleasant/unpleasant, good/bad, right/wrong.

When noticing our experience of sensations, feelings, and thoughts, with mindfulness we attempt to notice the experience with an attitude of interest, curiosity, and kindness/compassion. 

How to Practice Mindfulness

We can practice formally, as in meditation, or informally, by applying the practices and principles to our everyday lives. To learn more about how to practice formally, read my post about mindfulness mediation.”How to Meditate.”

To practice informally in your everyday life, try being aware of your present moment experience. Notice sensations, feelings, and thoughts that arise. Try meeting whatever arises with nonjudgment, kindness, and compassion, and notice how your day goes.

Mindfulness is a powerful tool for mind body healing. Anyone can call themselves a mindfulness teacher these days, so be sure to choose a qualified and experienced teacher. And if you have a history of trauma, try to find a teacher who is also a licensed mental health professional who teaches trauma sensitive mindfulness. You can verify any mental health professional’s license online on their licensing board’s website.