People seek to learn Mindfulness for many reasons, often as a last resort when they’ve exhausted all other options;  however, it’s frequently recommended by doctors and therapists to improve executive function skills, manage stress and  anxiety, cope with chronic conditions, support healing, aid in weight loss, and optimize health. Mindfulness can be a type of meditation, a science and evidenced-based therapeutic technique, a life skill, a way of being, and a very powerful gift!  

Mindfulness, as a meditation, guides us where to place our attention, often on the present moment, while being keenly  aware of what we observe, sense, and feel, without attachment or judgement. In other words, during meditation, we’re  not striving to fix or change anything and we’re not criticizing ourself; rather, we learn to allow, accept, nurture, or  release thoughts and physical sensations, in that moment.  

When learning Mindfulness as a therapeutic technique, the science explains “how” mindfulness recalibrates our nervous  system and, through neuroplasticity, changes our brain (reducing reactivity). We discover that everyone’s mind can be busy, unruly, and distracted; yet, Mindfulness, and neuroplasticity, are the keys to training it! Mindfulness is a powerful technique that, when practiced and applied, helps to shift our mental, emotional, and physical state, which positively impacts our ability to heal, adapt, recover from illness or injury, and successfully achieve our goals.  

Mindfulness practices may include: breathing techniques, somatic imagery, attention training, thought reconstruction  (EFT), acceptance and compassion practices, empowering resilience exercises, and more. 

Mindfulness, as a life skill, allows us to be here, without our inner/outer landscape distracting or overwhelming us.  Although it takes time and commitment to cultivate this life skill, it will be a lifelong gift.