A Mindfulness Primer
Mindfulness meditation is an ancient practice that can help develop your attention and concentration skills. Its primary purpose is to lock the mind in the present moment.
This ‘present moment’ is simply what is happening in the real world in and around you, as opposed to the mental world of thoughts and feelings.
Too often, and without even realizing it, we live in an imaginary world composed solely of ideas and pay little attention to what is happening in reality. Our minds tend to focus either on memories, or conjectures about the future, leaving little space for the present.
Mindfulness takes practice and is not guaranteed to work with everybody. There’s also lots of misleading information on the internet with promises of enlightenment, instant happiness, etc. In my opinion, meditation is simply a form of exercise for the brain. It won’t turn you into an enlightened being but will help clear your mind of mental pollution and noise.
Mindfulness is not an empty mind. Many people think that by meditating your thoughts will disappear. Your mind is not supposed to be empty! Thoughts and feeling are normal and desirable. Mindfulness is about unconstrained awareness.
Mindfulness is not a state of perpetual bliss and joy. While you may feel stress and anxiety dissipate while practicing meditation, you will not enter a state of heavenly delights — or at least you shouldn’t count on it, or you will be very disappointed.
Mindfulness is the awareness of sensations, thoughts, sounds, and space around you. You start by paying attention to your breathing, and, with practice, you extend the awareness to other things. The main thing is to observe things without judging. You are not forming opinions; you just see things as they are.
After a while, you’ll start to observe you're anxious and adverse thoughts without getting dragged by them. This can bring you great freedom and peace. Just imagine all the times you got carried away by anger or stressful feelings; now imagine yourself just looking at all that noise and still maintain calm.
The main benefit of mindfulness is realizing that your thoughts are not reality. They’re just a movie in your head. They are useful and necessary, but they are just mental objects, not real objects existing in the real world. And this is the primary weapon to fight anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and all sorts of negative states of mind.
