What is mindfulness?
“Paying attention to something, in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and his working definition of mindfulness, above, is widely recognised. However, mindfulness needs to be practiced and experienced to fully appreciate it.
A definition of mindfulness
Let’s breakdown the component parts of the definition, as this might be helpful for newcomers:
“Paying attention” means paying attention to the things you are surrounded with at or in the present place and time.
“On purpose” means you intentionally decide to pay attention to something specific.
“In the present moment” means you focus on the here and now and not on thoughts from the past or rehearsing the future.
Being “non-judgmental” means you are not going to compare, judge or be critical of yourself or of what arises whilst being mindful.
Mindful vs Mindless
Typically we can spend most of our time lost in past memories and fantasies of what we think our future should look like. We tend to let our minds operate on autopilot most of the time and the result of this is that we tend to let our bodies be in one place and our minds in another.
A quick example that you might be able to relate to… I used to mindlessly eat huge cartons of ice cream (my favourite is Haagan Dazs Pralines & Cream)! I’d reach the bottom of the tub and I would realise that I’d been on autopilot and hadn’t even properly tasted or even enjoyed the food I was eating.
We tend to rush through life skipping over all of the most important events mindlessly trying to get from one thing to the next. We always want to “get to the next best thing” in our life.
Time passes by so quickly and when we reflect back on our life then we wonder where the time went.
When we lack awareness, we can be unaware of how our mood affects our experience of the present moment; we can miss the good stuff - the laugh of our children, the warmth of the sun on our skin - and we can hold onto unpleasant moments long after they are over. We might also miss information that we need to make decisions, and we can carry tension in our bodies without realising it.
Being mindful has helped me be more aware of the wisdom and intuition that I naturally have within me. My body is sending signals in response to different experiences, but it’s not until now that I’ve started to pick up on these.
Time management
I have heard from so many of you who struggle to stay on top of your to-do lists and manage your schedule, that life feels chaotic and you’re overwhelmed.
There is a ton of information out there on time management… countless hacks to save you precious minutes in your day, or software and apps that promise to be your productivity powerhouse. These things can have a place, but they don't just work on their own; it needs to be part of a bigger, more holistic, picture >>>
I haven’t seen much that links time management with mindfulness (two of my favourite subjects!!).
My belief is that managing our time does not have to be difficult (it can be fun!), and that it is possible to be productive with peace and ease.
Weaving mindfulness into the time management space helps us to bring intention to how we invest our time, and allows us to be in the present moment - - to truly appreciate the time that we have.
Project Manage Your Life
If you’d like to learn more about time management and mindfulness, I’d love to have you join me on my live group programme, which starts on Tues 18th April 2023. Enrolment is now open. Across 6 live Zoom calls, I will be teaching you about time management and mindfulness.
By the end of the programme you will feel less overwhelmed, and more organised.
Less chaotic, and more calm.
And importantly, you will have more time for the things that really matter to you.
More info can be found here, or email me hello@sarahstewart.co.uk