Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges when we pay attention to the present moment with open, friendly curiosity and without preference.
Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges when we pay attention to the present moment with open, friendly curiosity and without preference.
For the time being Barbara, the author of this website, is not working due to bereavement and subsequent illness. However, please feel free to read and learn about mindfulness and compassion throughout these pages and please do use the meditations, for your personal use only.
Almost everyone can develop Mindfulness. We have a powerful and natural resource promoting well-being, deep within all of us. This faculty, usually remains dormant but can be developed by anyone interested in taking an active role in their own wellbeing, irrespective of age, background, belief system or previous experience. By becoming aware we are increasingly able to respond to life in more appropriate ways and less subject to reacting purely from the knee jerk of our old habits. The ability to respond instead of reacting, really changes life and enhances our experience of living. For 10% of the population Mindfulness is not appropriate. This means that 90% can benefit.
The simple truth is that when we practice Mindfulness on a daily basis, we and by extension others, benefit greatly. Stress levels decrease and the sense of well-being grows. This is now scientifically proven.
We practice as we go about our daily lives, being aware of what is happening whilst it is happening with a sense of open curiosity and by taking time out to meditate. Both these activities develop our capacity for Mindfulness. Over time this approach becomes a way of being rather than an 'add on' that we do. We become happier and more resilient. Mindfulness is only truly transformative when we bring an attitude of kindness and warmth to the practice. Beneficial change in this way, not only helps ourselves but everyone and everything we come into contact with.
Practicing Daily Mindfulness helps
Through Mindfulness we develop our natural ability to be fully aware of what is happening as it is happening. We consciously practice being totally present in a friendly, open and curious way; directly engaged with the moment-to-moment flow of life without preference. When we practice living in this way for at least part of the day, every day, real change can be felt and experienced not only for ourselves but affecting those we relate to as well.
The faculty of awareness is just as important as precise, keen, critical thinking for our wellbeing. We may think we are aware and that it is a regular given; something in our lives that happens anyway, but when we look closely we realise that this is far from the truth. Mostly our thoughts are caught up with the past or the future; we see that our attention is only partly in the present. We rely on our amazing ability to function on autopilot. How many times have you wondered where the last few hours, last week or last year has gone? The vast majority of the time we are living in this partial way.
Mindfulness allows us to engage fully with our life as we are living it. The benefits of being present to life are immense. Because we are developing an open friendly attitude, compassion for ourselves and others grows. This in turn increases our abililty to turn towards and acknowledge the universal, complex and often challenging and even messy business of being human. This results in developing resilience and our capacity to engage with life from the compassionate position of strength, kindness and wisdom. Being in touch in this way, living authentically in the moment, life takes on a different quality - regonising each moment as having value, that is vivid and rich.
The practice is rooted in ancient wisdom and is now validated by modern science. Recent developments in Neuroscience show us that MRI brain scans demonstrate beneficial changes in the brain when we practice. Proof that Daily Mindfulness works. Forty research papers published per month worldwide, confirm that the word is spreading.
There is currently an explosion of interest in the effectiveness of developing our own inner resources in this way. Daily Mindfulness is being taught in hospitals, schools and in the workplace. It is also being taught to people who have recovered from cancer to help reduce anxiety and to war veterans to help them to sleep. This simple practice is being discovered and harnessed by a wide range of groups, from athletes to multi-national companies. These groups have recognised that Daily Mindfulness helps increase wellbeing and optimises performance. Daily Mindfulness improves leadership, team work, innovation, creativity, emotional intelligence and effective communication.
Now Daily Mindfulness is helping people all over the world to live more fulfilled and happier lives.
We can all benefit.