Mindfulness is the practice of intentionally paying attention to your present-moment experience with openness and without judgment.
Mindfulness involves noticing what is happening right now—your thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and surroundings—rather than getting pulled into regrets about the past or worries about the future.
At its core, mindfulness strengthens what many therapeutic models call the observing self: the part of you that can step back and notice your internal experience instead of being completely swept away by it.
Mindfulness is not about emptying your mind or getting rid of thoughts. That’s a common misconception.
The mind produces thoughts the way the lungs breathe—it’s what it does. Trying to force thoughts away often makes them louder.
Instead, mindfulness teaches you to notice thoughts as mental events (“I’m having the thought that…”) rather than facts or commands you must follow.
Mindfulness is also not about suppressing emotions or pretending everything is fine. It’s about gently turning toward your current experience, using your senses—what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste—to anchor yourself in the present moment.
The benefits of mindfulness are both immediate and long-term. In the moment, mindfulness can reduce stress by calming the nervous system and interrupting automatic fight-or-flight responses. When you pause and ground yourself in sensory awareness, your body receives cues of safety.
For anxiety, mindfulness helps create space between you and catastrophic thinking, allowing you to observe worry without automatically reacting to it. Over time, this reduces reactivity and increases emotional regulation.
For mood, mindfulness can improve awareness of small positive experiences that often go unnoticed and reduce the spiral of self-criticism that fuels low mood. Even brief, consistent practice can increase feelings of steadiness and clarity.
In one study researchers analyzed 39 controlled studies with a total of 1,140 participants receiving mindfulness-based therapy. The results showed moderate to large reductions in anxiety and mood symptoms after mindfulness-based therapy (effect sizes around g ≈ 0.60–0.97), particularly for people with diagnosed anxiety or mood disorders. These improvements were maintained over follow-up periods, suggesting lasting benefits for anxiety and mood (Hoffman et al., 2010).
If you’re starting out, here are 4 practical tips:
1. Mindfulness doesn’t have to be about formal meditation. Start to practice doing things you’re already doing but very mindfully using all of your senses.
For example, when you’re washing the dishes, pay attention to what every action feels like, the temperature and sensation of the water or bubbles, what you hear, what you smell, etc.
2. To also try out some mindfulness meditations- Start small and specific. Don’t aim for 20 minutes right away. Begin with 2–3 minutes of focused breathing or sensory awareness.
Consistency matters more than duration. Attach it to an existing routine (e.g., before opening your email or after brushing your teeth).
3. Use your senses as anchors. When your mind wanders—and it will—gently return to what you can feel in your body or notice around you. For example: the sensation of your feet on the floor, the sound of distant traffic, or the temperature of the air on your skin. This grounds you in the present without needing to “control” your thoughts.
4. Adopt a non-judgmental stance. The goal is not to “do it perfectly.” If you notice frustration, distraction, or restlessness, that is mindfulness—because you noticed.
Treat your experience with curiosity rather than criticism. The tone you bring to practice matters as much as the practice itself.
Mindfulness is simple, but not always easy. It’s a skill that strengthens with repetition. The payoff is greater emotional and psychological flexibility, reduced stress reactivity, and a stronger connection to the present moment—where your life is actually happening.
Short Mindfulness Practice
Take a moment to settle into a comfortable position.
Allow your body to be supported—by the chair, the floor, or whatever is beneath you.
If it feels okay, gently close your eyes… or soften your gaze.
Begin by noticing your breathing.
No need to change it.
Just observe the natural rhythm of your inhale… and your exhale.
Notice where you feel the breath most clearly.
Maybe it’s the air moving through your nose…
the rise and fall of your chest…
or the gentle expansion of your abdomen.
Simply observe.
As you sit here, your mind may wander.
That’s completely normal.
When you notice it has drifted into planning, remembering, or worrying, gently say to yourself, “thinking”… and guide your attention back to the breath.
Now expand your awareness to your body.
Notice the sensation of your feet on the floor.
The weight of your body in the chair.
The temperature of the air on your skin.
Allow sounds in the room to come and go.
You don’t need to label them or figure them out.
Just notice them as passing experiences.
If any emotions are present, see if you can notice them with curiosity.
Not trying to push them away.
Not trying to hold onto them.
Just observing.
For this moment, nothing needs to be solved.
Nothing needs to be fixed.
You are simply noticing your experience as it is.
Take one slightly deeper breath.
And when you’re ready, gently bring your awareness back to the room, opening your eyes if they were closed.
Carry this small sense of awareness with you into the next part of your day.
References;
Hofmann SG, Sawyer AT, Witt AA, Oh D. The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2010 Apr;78(2):169-83.[/vc_column_text]
