what do we mean by mindfulness?

In this short series of talks, we will be looking at mindfulness. Mindfulness has become rather popular in recent years, in certain Western countries. And that's a good thing. In later episodes, we'll take a look at why mindfulness is good, and how we can improve our mindfulness. But in this introduction to the series, I want to explain what we mean by mindfulness.

We are mindful when our awareness is on our immediate surroundings, on what is happening right here, now, and our thoughts relate in an immediate way to what is happening. The opposite of being mindful is being absent-minded.

When we are absent-minded, we're not really paying attention to what is around us. We are thinking about other things, perhaps what we're going to have for dinner tonight, or remembering our holiday from the month before. You know how the mind wanders, and when the mind wanders in that way, we are not being mindful.

We may also be absent-minded because we are preoccupied with something else. We are worried about something, concerned, anxious or upset about something. And then our thoughts can become rather obsessed with that subject matter. And again, we are not paying attention to what is present with it us in the moment. So by mindfulness, we simply mean that we are paying attention to what is really with us in this moment, what is physically around us, and what is happening in the moment, in the here and now is the way it is sometimes put.

And of course, that might take different forms. For example, if someone is talking to you, you can listen in a mindful way or you can half listen in an absent-minded way. And you've probably had experiences like that when you've been talking to someone and you know they're not really listening, not really paying attention, perhaps they're fidgeting, glancing at their phone, or looking away as if daydreaming. And conversely, you probably know when someone is really listening to you. You can feel the energy of their attention when they're listening. And when someone really listens to us in that mindful way, it's very nurturing. One can feel a sort of empathy and acceptance from the other person, or at least we have the feeling of having been heard.

Listening is not the only way we are mindful. It depends on the situation, of course. If we are sitting in the garden, we might be mindful simply by listening to the sound of the birds chirping, or smelling the flowers, or watching the trees, perhaps as they sway in the breeze. All these immediate sensations coming to us are really a gift if we pay attention to them. And when we pay attention in this simple, direct way, we are being mindful.

Conversely, we could sit in the same garden, and our head might be full of thoughts about other things. Then we are not being mindful. We are busy, perhaps making plans for what to do tomorrow, perhaps feeling regret about some missed opportunity. And all these thoughts about other things distract our attention. They take us away from our immediate experience of the present moment. And if you pay careful attention to your own experience of life, you will see that there is a different quality to your experience when you are being mindful of the present moment, compared to when you are lost in your thoughts.

Thoughts have a role to play in life, including making plans for the future. However, most of us spend much too much time absorbed with such thoughts, and we miss the moment. And the moment brings this extra quality. It is more real. Our thoughts are something like a story, a bit like reading a novel. They rely on concepts, words. And they're rather in the head, in the mind, the thinking mind. That's their domain. Whereas, this moment, we are also capable of sensing directly: the sights and sounds, the smells and tastes, the touch sensations of the moment. And even if we are thinking, if those thoughts pertain to the present moment, they have an extra intensity to them. There is a sort of vitality that only exists when we are being mindful.

So this, in brief, is what we mean by mindfulness, paying attention to the present moment, to our immediate surroundings. Enough for this episode.