The way I see it, mindfulness is all about connection…
…connecting to myself, connecting to my present experience, and connecting to others. It’s about being grounded and open and curious and intentionally paying attention to whatever is happening right now, allowing anything that may arise to flow on through.
Mindfulness practices can be formal or informal.
Informal mindfulness can include a variety of practices, from noticing the feeling of my hand making contact with a surface to being aware of a sound in my environment. It is having an awareness of not just my sensory experience but also my cognitive and emotional experiences. It’s about inviting in a sense of curiosity with compassion.
Formal mindfulness is what comes to mind when I think of practicing meditation. It’s gently holding a focused awareness of my present experience, often while practicing stillness.* This awareness can involve focusing my attention very precisely, like when I am deliberately noticing my breath or visualizing an image. It can also be about focusing more broadly, like when I am expanding my consciousness beyond my physical body.
*With all that being said, mindfulness and meditation do not necessarily need to occur in complete stillness OR silence! Mindful movement and mindful listening are in themselves practices, and likewise, I can enter a meditative state while dancing, running, listening to music, or doing another activity that releases me into “the zone.” There really is no right or wrong to any of this, which is why it helps me to think of it as an exploration!
Why practice mindfulness?
For me, living mindfully is living fully. When I am practicing living a mindful life (and it’s definitely a practice!), I am able to hold space for the spectrum of emotions, thoughts, and feelings that make up my human experience.
A formal mindfulness practice helps me to clear away the clutter, making space for ideas, awareness, understanding, intuition, and inspiration to flow. It regulates my nervous system so that I am more able to respond with compassion to myself, to my experience, and to the people in my life.
When I am living mindfully, I am free to be me, fully, and I increase my capacity to allow others to be themselves, fully.
