What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the practice of moment to moment awareness.

It is a meditation-based mental practice that with skill, practice and encouragement may bring ease to mental stress.

With a regular mindfulness practice you will become more comfortable with observing difficult thoughts and feelings coming and going without getting entangled or overwhelmed by them.

We all have difficult thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness is a natural and accessible way of making sure that our feelings don’t overwhelm us and our thoughts don’t hurt us.

There are three ways to practise Mindfulness requiring different levels of skill & steadfastness.


  • Lifestyle Mindfulness: Gentling attention to the present as it is unfolding moment to moment (beginner to advanced practice)
  • Mindfulness Meditation: formal meditation that we set time aside for (beginner to advanced practice)
  • Mindfulness of Difficult Thoughts and Feelings: Consciously allowing thoughts and feelings, even difficult ones to arise without getting swept up by them (advanced practice)
Mindfulness Mangrove Image

Artist, Ai Shah

When mindfulness becomes a regular thing that you do the chances are you will be less bumped around by unwanted stress, anxiety and negative thinking.

In particular you may re-discover:


  • clarity: to see things more clearly
  • resilience: to bounce back quicker and safer from stress
  • insight: to understand situations in a way that supports you in making better choices for yourself
  • self-compassion: to not be so hard on yourself, to be a good friend to yourself