What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is paying full attention to what is going on in and around you, in a deliberate, open-minded and non-judgemental way. It’s a way you can support your mental and emotional health.

Mindfulness does not try to change or control your experience — you just observe and learn to accept what is happening in the moment.

Mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist meditation principles. Mindfulness is also a big part of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). However, anyone can use mindfulness to improve self-awareness and wellbeing.

You can watch this video from This Way Up about ways to cope during stressful or difficult times.

What are the benefits of mindfulness?

Mindfulness trains you to notice when you are distracted and to focus your attention in a certain way. It can help you in your:

• day-to-day life
• work
• relationships
• overall wellbeing

Concentration and memory

By helping you focus on the present, mindfulness can help you:

• concentrate on tasks
• remember the things going on around you

Sleep

Mindfulness can help manage distracting thoughts that may stop you from sleeping and can help you to physically relax.

Mindfulness can help if you struggle to sleep, or if you have anxiety about falling asleep.

Healthy eating

Mindful eating can help you to focus on the experiences of eating. This can help improve your relationship with food.

Relationships

Being mindful can also help you in your relationships. In a busy life, you may get distracted during interactions with close friends and family. It’s also easy to not notice the different perspectives of those around you.

Being more mindful may help you understand these issues, and connect differently with people.

Mental health and wellbeing

Stressful thoughts come and go. Without being mindful, you may:

• react to these stressful or negative feelings without thinking about them or seeing other perspectives
• become distracted and caught up by them

It’s easy to ruminate — where you dwell on worries about the past and the future.

Practising mindfulness may help to keep you in the present. Mindfulness helps you to recognise and observe your thoughts and feelings without:

• getting caught up in them
• judging yourself for how you feel

This way, you can separate your thoughts and how you react to them. This puts you in the best place to manage your emotions calmly and effectively. This can help reduce stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness can also help you to notice and engage with things around you that you may take for granted. This can help you to feel enjoyment.

Practicing mindfulness can also help you notice warning signs of mental health challenges. This way, you can take care of yourself and seek help earlier if needed.

Mindfulness can also help manage many mental health conditions, including:

• depression
• anxiety disorders
• addiction
• eating disorders

It may also help with anger management.

Chronic illness

Mindfulness may help you manage physical pain, such as chronic pain.

It can also improve the quality of life of people with cancer, by:

• reducing distress associated with pain
• supporting mental wellbeing
• reducing distress associated with nausea
• improving immune function

Many Australian cancer organisations run free mindfulness courses for people with cancer.

How can I be more mindful?

Many places now offer mindfulness training. You can also start putting mindfulness into practise on your own with a few simple exercises. There are many smartphone apps that can help guide you.

The more you practise mindfulness, the better you can get and the easier it will be. You can practise little periods of mindfulness throughout your day.

Anytime you find yourself dwelling on something, you can try to break the pattern by practicing mindfulness.

Focusing on yourself

To practise mindfulness, you can bring yourself into the present moment by:

• asking yourself questions, ‘What is going on with me at the moment?’
• labelling your thoughts and feelings — for example, ‘that’s an anxious feeling’
• grounding — focusing on things you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste

Identifying your feelings allows you to:

• accept them without judging yourself
• move through your feelings

Listening

If you are distracted or overwhelmed, it can help to think about what is going on around you.

If someone in speaking to you, focus on what they are saying, rather than background sounds.

Mindful eating

When you’re having a meal, focus on your eating. Don’t read or watch TV at the same time. Think about how your food:

• looks
• smells
• smells

You may find you enjoy your food more and only eat until you are full.

Meditation

Meditation is one of the most common ways to practise mindfulness. There are lots of different meditation techniques you can try.

Breathing exercises are a meditation technique. To do this, sit with your back straight but relaxed. For the next minute, give your entire attention to breathing in and out. Focus on:

• how air passes in and out of your nostrils
• how your abdomen (tummy) rises and falls with each breath

If your thoughts start crowding in, gently refocus on your breathing. It is normal for us to be caught up in our thoughts and not be able to focus on our breath for very long. Refocusing is a skill that improves with practise.

Another meditation technique is to scan your body. This means to focus on how your body feels in the moment. In a comfortable space, think about how your body feels, from your head to the tips of your toes. Focus on one part of your body at a time. This can help you feel grounded, calm and focussed.

You can also meditate while walking. Take time to notice details of the things around you. Note what you:

• see
• feel
• hear
• smell
• taste

You might focus on the feeling of your foot hitting the ground, the way the clouds look or a smell in the air.

When am I not mindful?

Many people have lives that are busy, stressful, and follow a routine. When doing familiar tasks in a familiar setting, you may find that your mind wanders. This is called operating on ‘autopilot’. When you are on autopilot, you may:

• not notice what’s going on around you
• get stuck in unhelpful thoughts, such as worrying about the future

You may find yourself:

• eating a whole packet of chips in front of the TV without actually noticing the taste
• reading half a page of a book and then realising that you haven’t taken any of it in
• having trouble falling asleep at night because of constant thoughts

Is mindfulness suitable for everyone?

If you are practising mindfulness and experience discomfort, stop and talk to your doctor.

Some research has reported that practicing mindfulness through intense meditation can make symptoms worse for people who have psychosis.

If you experience psychosis, you should talk to your doctor or mental health professional before practicing mindfulness. They can discuss whether mindfulness is right for you.

Resources and support

These organisations can help you introduce mindfulness into your life:

• Black Dog Institute provides a factsheet with mindfulness techniques to practise at home.
• Smiling Mind is a free app that helps develop mindfulness skills and can reduce stress.
• ReachOut has mindfulness resources that are suitable for young people.
• Head to Health — for advice and to get connected to local mental health services, call 1800 595 212. Check the operating times.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.