I had this article forward to me by a friend and thought it would be a good starting post to share with you. Marsha Linehan,Ph.D states that mindfulness is awareness without judgement of what is, via direct and immediate experience. Mindfulness can help to centre us when we are getting stressed or anxious and allows us the time to rest and recuperate when life gets busy. Cindy Sanderson gives a great example of what our minds can be like: you are at work and you go into the tea room for a break. Whilst making your drink you start thinking about shopping for diner, an irritating colleague or worrying about getting the next deadline met. As a result you don’t actually get a break and don’t end up feeling any better.

CC image courtesy of giuseppesavo on Flickr

This exercise might help you to understand what is going on in your head. Take a minute to sit in a quiet room where you won’t get distracted. Close your eyes for one minute and just breath normally, don’t try to think about anything in particular, instead watch the thoughts that come in. Try not to engage with any of these thoughts or talk badly about yourself whilst you try this, just acknowledge the thought is there and return your focus to watching what is being generated. See how busy the mind is?

People who practice mindfulness get better at dealing with difficult situations and better at preventing themselves from falling into negative patterns of behaviour. They are able to recognise that thoughts are seperate from the values we add to them and learn to actively apply meaning rather than accepting what may automatically be applied. Mindfulness can be part of an overall mental health plan to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.

For better and more descriptive information see the following link.