What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness teaches us how to be aware of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and moods and as they are, in the moment. It's about  seeing things as they are they are, and not as we would like them to be. When we pay attention to how we are thinking and feeling right now, we become better at noticing the build up of difficult emotions and thoughts so that we can deal with them more proactively and skillfully, instead of just reacting in habitual ways which may be harmful us.

Mindfulness helps us to see and understand that thoughts are just thoughts. Our thoughts are not facts and we can choose whether to give them power over our minds and hearts. Our minds tend to get locked into the negative aspects of an experience while ignoring the positive. We tend to follow well-worn grooves of automatic pilot both in our thoughts and feelings, not recognising that our habits, which may once have been necessary, may now have become unhelpful. Mindfulness can help us to choose where to put our attention, so we can begin to learn to pause automatic thoughts/behaviours and respond instead of react. As we learn to step out of habitual patterns, we can experience greater freedom and choice.

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