“Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience.”
What is Meditation?
Meditation involves exploring thoughts and feelings without judgement. The goal is to achieve mental clarity and a calm frame of mind. When you meditate you explore the workings of your mind. With practice you learn to approach experiences with warmth and kindness, both to ourselves and others.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present; knowing where you are and what you are doing. When you experience something through your senses, or focus the consciousness of your mind, you have mindfulness.
What is the purpose of mindfulness meditation?
At first, living was straightforward. Rub two sticks together and make a fire. Stick a seed in the ground, grow green beans. Trade a pig, get ten chickens. But things have changed!
In recent decades the world has transformed, along with the complexity of daily life. It is undeniable that the demands of our life are different to those of our ancestors. This can affect us in several ways and be detrimental to our well-being.
It is easy to feel “lost” in this modern world, with the never-ending availability of information, opportunities and problems. No matter what you do with your life at home or at work, with friends or strangers, it’s easy to get into circular thinking. Sometimes we can’t help but reflect on the events of the past and worry what the future might be.
These thoughts niggle away at our minds, and we don’t always have the mental tools to deal with these problems. This can cause us a variety of problems, from ongoing anxiety, stress, illness and an inability to lead the lives we want.
There is an increasing body of evidence shows that training your brain with guided mindfulness meditation physically restructures your brain.
