What is Mindfulness?
Most people at this point have heard of mindfulness. It has become a part of our lexicon. The term is thrown around all the time in news articles and in everyday conversation. What is mindfulness though? And what does it actually mean?
Mindfulness is a practice with roots in Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. It has more recently been incorporated into Western psychotherapies. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment without judgment.¹ Your only goal with mindfulness is to observe without criticism-to simply experience the here and now without labeling it as good or bad. To approach the present moment without preconceived notions. To have patience, acceptance, and to let go to allow the present experience to be whatever it is in that moment.
This approach allows us to step outside the automatic responses we often have to situations. It can help us avoid acting impulsively, feeling like our emotions are out of control and bigger than we are, or buying into unhelpful thinking patterns. Mindfulness can also help us to develop more self-compassion.
What Is Mindfulness Helpful For?
One of the components of mindfulness is essentially attention training. By practicing mindfulness, we can improve our ability to focus on one thing at a time. Whether it's during a work task, in a conversation, or while engaging in a hobby, mindfulness can help you stay present. This increased focus on a task can also allow you to get emotional benefits as well. Let’s look at an example to help illustrate this. Imagine you’ve had a bad day and are worried about several work projects. You’re supposed to go hiking with a friend. You think about canceling, but you go anyway. If you’re not practicing mindfulness while on the hike, you may end up focusing on worries instead of your friend or the beauty around you. You may even find yourself feeling more anxious. If, on the other hand, you use mindfulness to focus on your conversation with your friend, and at other times during your hike use mindfulness to focus on the scenery around you, you’re a lot more likely to experience a pleasant emotion. In this same example, you can also imagine how using mindfulness can improve your relationships. When we practice mindfulness in our interactions with others, we're less likely to get caught up in judgments, assumptions, or distractions. We can be fully there for the people in our lives, and create meaningful connections.
Mindfulness is also helpful for improving aspects of physical health. For example, some research has shown that mindfulness helps to improve pain and that it may even help to decrease the amount of pain medication that someone takes.² It’s also helpful for improving sleep, fatigue and quality of life in people with medical disorders, like cancer.³
How to Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a skill that can be developed through regular practice. Many people often think that they aren’t “good” at practicing mindfulness, and quickly give up. But you can’t be “bad” at practicing mindfulness! You may have days where your brain is busier than others - and therefore days where it’s more challenging to pay attention. When it comes to mindfulness, your goal is not to ‘clear your mind.’ So if you’re having a day where it’s hard to focus, this is just another thing to pay attention to, with curiosity, and without judgment. Here are a few ways many people practice mindfulness:
Mindful Breathing:
The goal of mindful breathing is simply to observe your breath. A relaxation exercise may have you try to change your breathing, or to breathe deeply. In mindful breathing, you’re not trying to change the way you’re breathing in any way. You’re simply trying to observe what your breath is like as it flows in and out of your body. As you’re observing your breathing, you may notice changes in the way you’re breathing, or in your body. That’s ok! If you don’t notice any changes at all, that’s ok too! If your mind wanders while you’re practicing, just notice that your focus has moved somewhere else, and then gently bring your focus back to your breath, without judgment.
Body Scan Meditation:
A body scan is a type of mindfulness meditation that involves paying attention to the sensations in each part of your body with curiosity and without judgment. The goal is not to change any of these sensations, although they may change on their own (whatever happens is OK!). You might start by noticing your left foot. Describing what your foot feels like. Noticing if there’s any tension. Any tingling. Any pain. Just becoming aware. Then moving to focus on your left ankle, and so on, until you’ve “scanned” your entire body.
Mindful Eating:
To engage in a mindful eating exercise, you might find something like a raisin. You’d then mindfully focus on all of your senses. So you might pick the raisin up and describe for yourself how it feels between your fingers. Maybe it’s squishy. Maybe it feels grooved or even a bit rough. You might toss it into your palm to notice its weight. You might smell it and describe its scent to yourself. You may look at it and notice the many grooves and how the colors shift somewhat as you roll it around in your hand. You might put it in your mouth and notice what your mouth does - salivate - and how it tastes - sweet - prior to mindfully beginning to chew.
Last thoughts…
Mindfulness is a powerful tool that can provide benefits in almost every area of our lives. It is used in many therapy modalities, and is also easily practiced at home. Mindfulness can feel challenging, particularly during the days when your mind just really wants to wander. Remember though, this does not mean you’re doing anything wrong or that you’re not “good” at practicing mindfulness. If you’re having a day where your mind is busier, try to notice that, without judging yourself. That’s your only job. Try to remain open and curious to your present experiences. There’s also no amount of time that you “need” to practice mindfulness for. So if 30 seconds is what you can do - then 30 seconds it is! Some practice is always better than none.
Kabat‐Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness‐based interventions in context: past, present, and future. Clinical psychology: Science and practice, 10(2), 144-156.
Hilton, L., Hempel, S., Ewing, B. A., Apaydin, E., Xenakis, L., Newberry, S., ... & Maglione, M. A. (2017). Mindfulness meditation for chronic pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 51(2), 199-213.
Rouleau, C. R., Garland, S. N., & Carlson, L. E. (2015). The impact of mindfulness-based interventions on symptom burden, positive psychological outcomes, and biomarkers in cancer patients. Cancer management and research, 121-131.
If you’re in Colorado or Illinois and you’d like to get started with treatment, you can contact me, Dr. Liz Culnan, at Mindful Health Psychology.
About Dr. Liz Culnan | Denver, CO & Chicago, IL
Dr. Liz Culnan is a licensed clinical health psychologist with specialized training in the areas of perinatal/reproductive mental health and behavioral sleep medicine. She is passionate about supporting women through reproductive and life transitions. Learn more here.
Other services offered at Mindful Health Psychology:
Mindful Health Psychology is a practice offering online therapy for Denver, CO, Chicago, IL and beyond in the states of Colorado and Illinois. We specialize in therapy for anxiety, depression, depression and anxiety during pregnancy, postpartum anxiety and depression, coping with miscarriage and pregnancy loss, PMDD, coping with fertility-related stressors, birth trauma, coping with a chronic medical condition, insomnia, nightmares, circadian rhythm disorders, and hypersomnia disorders. We provide online therapy, making treatment more accessible, which means you can be located in Denver, Chicago, or another city in Colorado or Illinois to receive services.