Mindfulness 101 by Lindsay Menigat, LPCC

It seems like we are hearing about mindfulness all of the time, but what is mindfulness exactly? “Mindfulness is moment-to-moment non-judgmental awareness. It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment's thought to (Full Catastrophe Living, Jon Kabat-Zinn).”

There are many great benefits derived from practicing mindfulness; these range from relief of stress, depression, and anxiety, to improvements in learning and memory, to boosting our immune function and relief of chronic pain.

According to Marsha Linehan, we can begin to understand mindfulness with these three concepts:

1. * Observing: noticing the inside (emotions, thoughts, bodily sensations) and the outside (events, interactions) without necessarily trying to terminate them when they are painful or prolonging them when they are pleasant.
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3. * Describing: putting into words your experience and removing assumptions, opinions, and labels; instead focusing on facts (who, what, when, and where) and our five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch).
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5. * Participating: letting yourself fully participate in the activities of the current moment; becoming one with whatever you are doing.

How do we practice mindfulness?
Mindfulness is an internal resource that all of us already have within us. We just need to practice! We can engage in formal practices such as yoga and stretching, or breathing and meditation. We can also use informal practices including mindful eating, awareness of pleasant moments, awareness of unpleasant or stressful moments, awareness of falling into old habits, and awareness of emotional reactions.

Try some of these mindfulness tips:

• * Do one thing at a time. Practice being fully present and attentive to whatever you are doing (driving, walking, washing the dishes, brushing your teeth, etc.).
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• * Pause and notice your breath coming in and going out for a breath or two. Can you sense your breath entering your nose, lungs, belly?
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• * Learn to watch your mind and observe your own thinking. Imagine your mind as the sky and your thoughts as clouds allowing thoughts to come and go.
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• * Take a walk in nature and use all your senses to heighten your experience.