What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is learning to watch our thoughts and emotions in the moment. Or put another way, paying attention in the present moment without judgment to whatever arises.
My favourite way to look at this is from a quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn, he says:

“You can’t stop the waves coming but you can learn to surf”.

Mindfulness is at the very core of our life – who we are and how we relate to the world around us. It’s the capacity to be aware of what’s really going on. The practice of mindfulness helps us to stop running and to realise that happiness and well-being are available to us in all moments of our lives. It is often in the most demanding times moments that we get the most benefit from mindfulness practice. The more practice we’ve done building the mindfulness muscle the easier it can be to ‘surf the waves’ …

It’s worth noting that mindfulness is not passive in any way, much of it is about taking action to be aware and to act accordingly, it’s not about giving up, accepting the unacceptable or just being lazy!