Have you ever gotten home from work only to realize that you do not remember how you drove there? You find that you cannot remember much about the traffic or what song was playing on the radio. You practically were in autopilot mode where you were lost in thought. This situation has happened to quite a number of us.
Many people do not know what it is called, but it is referred to as mindlessness. It practically means that we find ourselves lost in doing things and do not live our life to the fullest. It leaves us vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and even depression.
It is because of this that people are advised to practice mindfulness. It is the opposite of mindlessness and means waking up and taking the steering wheel of our lives. Below is a guide on mindfulness definition and how to achieve it.
Mindfulness Definition
Mindfulness is the feeling of engagement or involvement. To achieve it requires lots of practice. Doing it helps to counterbalance the automatic pilot mode that our brain goes to sometimes. Below are three definitions that we can explore to understand it further.
Return To The Present Moment
Many people think that mindfulness means to stay in the present moment, which is far from the truth. Many people will practice meditation and get annoyed by their mind’s inability to stay in the present moment.
The truth is that no one’s brain remains in the present moment since it tends to compute and process every occurrence. The good news is that we have control of the return process. We can return our minds into the present moment by returning it to our current senses and what is happening at the present moment. This is very important since we have the mind control in our hands.
Letting Go Of The Things We Take For Granted
We always tend to program our minds to accept most of what we have experienced in life, and assume that things will remain the same way. However, mindfulness challenges us to appreciate the small stuff and get rid of these habits.
The Self-Regulation Of Attention
Mindfulness practices openness, curiosity, and acceptance. You can take control of your attention and shift it to whatever you want, such as a distant memory, future goal, or how someone is speaking. By being mindful, we are open to what we put our attention to and curious to see how it turns out. We also have acceptance of the situation, whether boring, unpleasant, or even pleasant. This last definition is mainly used to advance research and the practice of having mindfulness.
Mindfulness is knowing the mind, training it, and freeing it. It is something that if practiced, can improve one’s working memory, lower levels of anxiety, reduce stress, manage physical pain and help someone stay in the moment. Some people try meditation to achieve this feeling. With these definitions, one can understand the state of mindfulness and how to get it to prevent the adverse effects of being mindless.