One Minute To Mindfulness

Mindfulness isn't about emptying your mind of thoughts.

That's impossible.

It's about observing the contents of consciousness as they are for what they are right now,

Without judgment,

Filter,

Or labels.

We observe thoughts,

But don't identify with them.

To practice mindfulness meditation,

You set a timer,

Take a seat,

And close your eyes.

You draw your attention to the sensations of the breath at the nose.

And if your mind wanders,

Gently acknowledge it and return your focus back to the breath.

And you repeat this process for the duration of the session.

When we meditate,

We are training the ability to recognize thoughts without immediately identifying with them.

I am sad becomes sadness is present.

We notice moods before we fall into them.

We recognize when we're stuck in rumination loops and can be better at escaping them.

And we're less impulsive or prone to addictions as we can recognize the wave of cravings in real time.

That's it.

Observe the breath,

Your mind wanders,

Return your focus back to the breath.

Repeat daily.

Repeat daily.

This talk was taken from the book Mindfulness,

A guidebook to the present moment.