Mindfulness allows us to explore deeper aspects of who we are and to gain meaning and purpose from this reflection. Insight and meaning can be gained from a mindful state, where as being in a state of constant thought and action can cause us to miss out on potential meanings and insights present throughout our lives.

Mindfulness is not just an idea but an actual state of being that we can use in life.

Mindfulness vs Thinking

Mindfulness differs from thinking and feeling in the sense that it involves being aware of thoughts and emotions rather than participating in thoughts and emotions. In the process of reflecting on thoughts and emotions it becomes easier to grasp factors that are present which might not have been clear before.

Technique

Hold your hand up in front of you. Give your full attention to your hand and notice all the marks and skin contours that are there which you had not noticed before. Now notice that what you were worrying about or thinking about before has now subsided and you focused in the present moment for those few seconds of mindfulness while watching your hand.

The same technique can be applied to thought and feeling patterns. Consider how much a person will appreciate it when you give your full mind to their feelings or ideas. You will also gain a lot of insight from other people as you listen more carefully rather than looking for generalised meanings.

Every circumstance in life has a number of layers filled with meaning. One person might see one layer, and another might see another layer. Developing mindfulness involves gaining the awareness to see more of those layers to gain a more complete understanding.

Conclusion

To begin practicing mindfulness take note of your thoughts and feelings or actions over the next five minutes. Do not judge your actions, or form opinions on them, since this just causes another thought on top of the original thought or action and is not mindfulness at all.

Mindfulness requires pure observation without thought, without opinion forming, and without judgment. To achieve a deeper state of mindfulness the goal is to practice often. Most readers will forget to practice this technique after reading this article. However it is well worth attempting this technique a few times before coming to a conclusion about the effectiveness.