Homepage

Welldoing Articles

The Basics of Mindfulness Practice

beach-sunrise-meditation-1030x443.jpg

The Basics of Mindfulness Practice

Jan 12, 2015

Andres Fossas

Andres Fossas

Jan 12, 2015

Wherever you happen to be sitting right now, take about a minute or two to notice the physical sensations of your body pressing against the seat/cushion/floor underneath you. If you're standing, try to notice the physical sensations of your feet pressing against the floor. While you're at it, see if you can identify the contours of your body touching the seat or floor by feeling the sensations that are present there - rather than by simply thinking about them. This exercise of attention is referred to as mindfulness and has become tremendously popular in recent years - and for very good reasons. Mindfulness is the ability to pay attention to whatever is happening in the present moment. Unbeknownst to us, our attention is involuntarily trained throughout our lives to focus predominantly on the future and/or the past.**

Our attention is involuntarily trained throughout our lives to focus predominantly on the future and/or the past.

**Naturally and unfortunately, this habit leaves few mental resources for noticing what's happening right now, in the present moment. And many of us know what it's like to not be "fully present" or "fully there" during a particular activity or task though we commonly realize this only after the fact . For example, a father of two young boys recently confided to me: "Often, when I'm playing with my children, I notice that my attention is not on them. Insstead it is on some project or task that I need to finish tomorrow or the day after. I wish I could be more present to enjoy the experience of being with my children". This tendency, for our attention to be swept away or "taken hostage" by our thoughts, is a learned habit sometimes referred to as "mindlessness". It is the opposite of mindfulness. Our worries and concerns also function by "hijacking" our attention, sometimes afflicting us with excessive amounts of suffering and distress. Luckily, mindfulness can train our attention to engage more frequently and fully with the present moment via practice. In this way we learn valuable lessons about how our minds work in the process. Like other learnable skills, such as playing piano or riding a bicycle, mindfulness practice grows stronger the more you repeat it. As seen in the brief exercise that opened this article, mindfulness is trained by placing one's attention on a particular object, such as the breath, a part of the body, an external object, etc. We return to this object if we notice that our attention has drifted to something else. A traditional and highly effective way to develop mindfulness practice is through meditation. Much of the scientific research in this area is based on - or on a derivative of - this method. Numerous studies now show that people who practice mindfulness experience an intriguing range of benefits, both physical and psychological. Chief among these are: reduced stress and inflammation, lower blood pressure, increased lifespan and immune system function, enhanced concentration and focus, greater pain tolerance, improved interpersonal relationships, and many more. Mindfulness helps us know ourselves better too, and has been linked with increases in self-knowledge in at least one study. Given these impressive findings, it is no wonder that mindfulness practice is increasingly being considered a key component to living a fuller, richer, and happier life. In subsequent articles in this series, I will provide a brief history of mindfulness, a deeper exploration of its effects on our minds and bodies, and detailed mindfulness practice instructions that anyone can try.


Article tags

practitioner photo

Andres Fossas

Andres Fossas is a mindfulness practitioner, writer, and aspiring instructor. He learned mindfulness meditation in northern Thailand and has attended silent retreats ranging in length from three days to three months. Andres studied psychology at Harvard University and recently contributed to a large research project on the value of spirituality in the 21st century.
welldoing logo

We are the UK’s leading therapist matching service with 40,000+ people discovering life-changing therapy through us

mental health practitioners

Sign up as a Welldoing user to claim your free Holly Health app (worth £38.99) and more

If you need emergency help or are thinking about harming yourself, contact the Samaritans on 116 123.
For emergency services phone 999 or 112.

Join over 30,000 on our newsletter

© 2013-25 by Welldoing. All Rights reserved. Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms and conditions

Visit Welldoing on XVisit Welldoing on FacebookVisit Welldoing on YouTubeVisit Welldoing on LinkedInVisit Welldoing on Instagram

© 2013-25 by Welldoing. All Rights reserved. Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms and conditions

Welldoing Ltd is a registered trademark in England and Wales. No 8614689.