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What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the art of being in the moment.
It is a way of paying attention to whatever is happening in our lives and it is also a systematic practice that cultivates clarity, insight and understanding.
What is it good for?
- Stress reduction
- Chronic pain management
- Emotional balance
Mindfulness is not something that you have to “get” or acquire. It is already within you-a deep internal resource available and patiently waiting to be released and used in the service of learning, growing, and healing. It helps us learn to take care of ourselves by exploring and understanding the way our minds and bodies work together.
With Mindfulness we can mobilize our own inner resources for coping, growing and healing. More than three decades of scientific research at medical centers all over the world suggests that training in mindfulness and mindfulness based stress reduction can positively and often profoundly affect participants’ ability to reduce medical symptoms and psychological distress while learning to live life more fully.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is a method to help you with your mindfulness.
“Meditation is a framework that is used to develop the state of skill of mindfulness”, (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). There are a variety of definitions for meditation and some of them are a result of historical or cultural context. Meditation in this context is the practice of training the mind to achieve mindfulness.
Meditation as I talk about it and teach it:
- Is not relaxation – although it might promote relaxation
- Does not require sitting in a special position
- Does not involve chanting special words
- Is not a religious activity
- Is not an escape
- Is not about letting your mind go blank