Mindfulness

Mindfulness resources for download supporting understanding of how to practice.

Mindfulness is often described as a capacity to focus attention on the present without distraction and be observationally aware without judgement. By doing so, we become calmer, less stressed and not so overwhelmed by what is happening within and around us. This is part of a broader explanation of mindfulness; a more expansive understanding of mindfulness is helpful. So, what is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is our innate potential to be attentive and aware of what it is to be human and alive. To know of our humanness and lived experience coupled with the cultivation of ethical response and engagement with life and living that is beneficial to our own health and Refuge, to the health, peace and Refuge of others, and to the health of the world and life itself.

A natural quality and potential of the human mind, the mindful mind is willing to meet and come to know ourselves more fully and with greater friendship and care. By applying the appropriate training techniques, our mindfulness grows, supporting increasingly a calmer, more ethically intelligent capacity to engage with life and living. 

Today, mindfulness is often associated with mental health, but it is not limited to this. While mindfulness can help us cultivate good mental health, practising mindfulness does not mean a person is struggling with their mental health. Mindfulness is, in fact, an essential part of everyday life that goes beyond remediation. It serves a greater purpose by expanding our awareness and acceptance of reality, supporting a calmer response to life and experiences, and fostering an okayness with our nature.

Through practice, we become increasingly aware of what we are experiencing, and a fullness of mind develops. We become increasingly familiar with how to respond in ways that support a deepening of calm, kindness and care, friendliness and compassion, and a peaceful, healthy response to our own and others’ experiences, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

As we develop our mindfulness simultaneously, we support the cultivation of Refuge. The Refuge that mindfulness develops is a sense of security and safety, a feeling of being sheltered and held, and a deepening sense of okayness with life and living and being human. Refuge develops and expands alongside the development of our mindfulness in our individual personal lives, within the lives of our families and friendship groups, community, society and culture.

Mindfulness is not a technique but a state of mind and way of living that develops through applying a training technique. In short, mindfulness is becoming familiar with our humanness, ethical and aware, purposefully attentive and kind. 

Mindfulness can be applied to all aspects of life. We learn how to apply calming techniques in daily life through mindfulness training, deepening our capacity for calm overall. Mindfulness is an overarching whole of health practice, suitable for individuals, families, workplaces, and communities. Mindfulness practice helps us grow and sustain meaningful calm and a kind, caring, and friendly interest in modern life’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual complexities.

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DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES BELOW