Practicing Mindfulness

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💆Mindfulness is you catching yourself in the moment, not drifting into the past, not stressing about the future, just being right here, right now. It's awareness, but soft. Attention, but not forceful. No judgment. No fixing. Just noticing. It’s when I stop running and actually feel my breath. When I don’t push my feelings down, I sit with them. When I let things be what they are, even me.

☺What does it mean?

💬Mindfulness is the practice of paying full attention to the present moment with nonjudgmental awareness. It’s about noticing your thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they are, without trying to change or avoid them. It’s not zoning out, it’s zoning in. “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” (Jon Kabat-Zinn, 1994)

💬The art of mindfulness has roots in ancient Eastern spiritual traditions, especially                Buddhism, where it’s called sati in Pali. It was central to the Buddha's teachings as part of the Eightfold Path, a guide for ending suffering.

💬In the 20th century, mindfulness was adapted into secular practice by Jon Kabat Zinn, a molecular biologist. In 1979 he founded the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This brought mindfulness into Western medicine and psychology, helping it gain scientific credibility. Today, mindfulness is widely used in therapy, education, business, and even prisons not as religion, but as a mental skill.

☺Why you should practice Mindfulness:

💟Because our minds do the most. Anxiety, overthinking, old wounds, future fears, it all lives in our head. "The mind is a scattered thing. It is like a monkey jumping from branch to branch. It is restless, undisciplined, and it must be tamed." (Imhrat Khan, in Roald Dahl's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar).

💟Mindfulness brings me back into my body. Into the now. It’s helped Slow down the noise. Notice my patterns. Respond instead of react. Breathe deeper, sleep better, cry safely.

💟Mindfulness isn’t just calming, it rewires your brain. Research shows it reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. It improves attention and focus. Lowers rumination (overthinking).

💟Mindfulness builds emotional regulation, increases self awareness and compassion. It also helps break reactive patterns. 

💟Practicing mindfulness lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It also improves sleep and immune response. Reduces chronic pain symptoms.

☺Mindfulness in Healing, Survival Mode, or Trauma Recovery:

💜Survival mode keeps you hypervigilant and reactive. Mindfulness interrupts that loop.

💜It Creates safety in the body (grounding). 

💜It Helps separate now from then (trauma memories).

💜It reduces fight/flight/freeze responses.

💜It builds capacity to feel without being overwhelmed.

💜“Mindfulness reconnects people with their bodies and with the present moment, providing          an anchor in the storm of trauma.” (Bessel van der Kolk, 2014).

☺How to Practice Mindfulness:

💗You do not need a mat or incense to do it, just your attention.

💗Sometimes it’s just breathing. Like... inhale, exhale. That’s it.

💗It’s not about being still and silent all the time. It’s about being present, even in the noise.

💗Pause, find a quiet moment.

💗Focus on your breath, body, or surroundings.

💗Observe, notice your thoughts or feelings without reacting.

💗When the mind wanders (it will), gently bring it back.

 ☺ Techniques you can try:

💟Mindful breathing, inhale, exhale, notice.

💟Body scan, notice each body part in turn.

💟Mindful walking, focus on each step and sensation.

💟Mindful eating, slow down and really taste.

💟Noting, silently label thoughts or emotions (“thinking,” “sadness,” etc.)

 ☺How Mindfulness Changes the Brain / Identity:

💜Mindfulness literally reshapes the brain (based on MRI studies):

💜Increased gray matter in prefrontal cortex (decision-making), hippocampus (memory, learning), anterior cingulate cortex (attention), reduced activity in the amygdala (fear center)

💜It also creates space between stimulus and response, allowing you to choose who you want to be, not just react automatically.

💜Finally, mindfulness cultivates consciousness and observing the mind instead of being caught in it. Start practicing mindfulness today.

💜Mindfulness lets me witness it all without becoming it.

💜That’s power.

💜That’s freedom.

 

 

👇Read further:

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy/bpg016The art of mindfulness.

Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213–225. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn3916

van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.

 

 


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