The essence of Mindfulness

Being mindful is being fully aware of the present experience. It’s that moment where no other thoughts are disturbing your inner peace. Think of something you really enjoy like walking in nature, doing your favorite sports or hearing music you love. Often we categorize them as ‘the simple things’ or ‘the little pleasures’ of life. So being mindful is nothing complicated, but it can be a real challenge to keep this undisturbed peace in everything we do.

Often we experience that while doing one thing we already think of the next thing to do. There’s always something else taking the mind ‘away’. This is very normal, our minds are made to plan, to organise and to think in general. But our problem is that we are more often caught in those thoughts than dealing with what is present. If we do this for too long it causes friction, tiredness, anxiety and stress making us unhappy.

“Mindfulness is cultivated by paying close attention to your moment-to-moment experience while, as best as you can, not getting caught up in your ideas and opinions, likes and dislikes.”

— JON KABAT-ZINN

By the practice of mindfulness we become aware of this ever wandering mind. It’s not for emptying the mind or making the thoughts stop, it’s just allowing it to be without judgement and wanting it be different. When we create acceptance for how things are many things will change.

Mindfulness benefits

• learning how to make space and time for yourself

• being more kind, compassionate and loving towards yourself and others

• making better choices

• recognizing and preventing stress

There are many more benefits, but most importantly is that mindfulness can help us in how to observe and to be ok with what is present. Being ok is not always a passive attitude, but can also supports us in taking proper action and protecting our boundaries. The beauty of practicing mindfulness is that it is grounded and very much suited for our westerner minds. With clarity and validity, tools are given so that anyone can integrate this into their daily life.

I’m a certified categorie 1 trainer, which means I followed high qualified trainings and keep on investing in the practice of mindfulness with retraites, workshops and the integration of the practice into my own daily life.