About mindfulness

What is mindfulness I hear you ask? I’d describe it as a form of meditation during which we become aware of what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment. It is the state of being truly present and aware of what our body is feeling and what our mind is thinking at any given moment. Sounds easy, right?

If you have consciously tried to be mindful, you’ll probably agree that it is not easy at all, in fact, quite the opposite!

So, what can you do to become more mindful? Well, working with the breath is one step towards becoming more mindful. Once you learn to become aware of your own breath, you can use it to help you through challenging times and with time, you’ll become more mindful of the way you feel at any given moment.

Breath work in yoga is called pranayama. Whilst some of us love pranayama, others find it quite challenging and – dare I say it – boring. If that is you, then my suggestion is to start with small steps. It might just be taking 5 minutes out of your busy day to just focus on the breath, noticing what you feel in the body as you inhale and exhale through the nose and that’s it – your first step towards being more mindful.

With time, those 5 minutes will become 10 and in the long run, being aware of what’s happening at any given moment will become second nature. Be patient, we are only human after all 🙂