What is Mindfulness?
I suspect that if you asked 100 people this question, you would get 100 different answers!
But since we've started offering more mindfulness-focused workshops and classes at the studio, I thought it might be helpful to share what mindfulness means to me.
Where does the term come from?
From the East
The origins of mindfulness lie in Buddhism. The teachings of the Buddha were first written in a language called Pali, where we come across the word "sati". Sati is commonly translated into English as "Mindfulness", but it has a deeper meaning too; elements of remembering and recollection.
To the West
Jon Kabat-Zinn is often credited as bringing the practice of mindfulness to the West with his Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course (MBSR for short). MBSR is an 8 week course that uses mindfulness practices to help people manage stress. Kabat-Zinn always approached what he did from a research angle and over the years quite a significant library of research has been built around the practice.***
In 2008, in the UK, Rob Nairn (a Tibetan Buddhist meditation teacher originally) developed his own 4 weekend mindfulness training pathway together with Heather Regan-Addis and Choden (a buddhist monk in the Kagyu Karma Tibetan tradition). This eventually developed into the Mindfulness Association, now one of the largest organisations facilitating mindfulness training in the UK, with courses being taught all over the world.
The Mindfulness Association (the MA for short) is also the organisation where I completed my teacher training and where I continue to study mindfulness. (And incidentally, Choden was my mentor as I went through my teacher training!)
The mindfulness "flavour" of the MA focuses on trainable skills such as attention and awareness *. It's taught as a psychological skillset and anyone can practise it. What makes it slightly different from other courses such as MBSR and MBCT is that it heavily incorporates kindness and compassion.
If you are a complete beginner then I want you to know 3 things:
You can't do mindfulness wrong
Your mind will wander, and it always will
You don't need to feel calm (read on to find out why)
A simple practical definition is:
Knowing what is happening, whilst it is happening, no matter what it is**
Let's break down this definition into two parts and go from there!
Part 1: Knowing what is happening, whilst it's happening
This isn’t meant in a complicated or metaphysical way. It literally means noticing what’s happening for you right now, in this moment.
It sounds straightforward, right? Most of us assume we know what’s happening at any given time — I know I’m sitting here writing this blog post, and you (hopefully!) know you’re reading it.
But there’s always more going on beneath the surface.
Most mindfulness practices begin by turning our attention inward:
Breath and body — noticing the breath, the weight of the body, any aches, tension, tiredness, restlessness, or subtle sensations.
Emotions — checking in with how we’re feeling, recognising sensations like the flutter in the chest or the knot in the stomach as part of our emotional landscape.
Thoughts — noticing the stories the mind is telling, the thoughts bouncing around, the commentary we add to our experience.
It’s a bit like walking past the same mural every day. You know the colours and the general theme, but one day you stop and really look — and suddenly there are details you’ve never noticed before.
And just like that, we already understand ourselves a little better. And maybe we even gained a bit of insight into what our physical and emotional needs are
Part 2: No matter what it is
In the first part we learn to acknowledge what's here. In the second part we, we learn to accept it - whatever it is.
It’s completely natural to shy away from things that feel unpleasant. No one enjoys pain, anxiety, or difficult thoughts. But whether we like them or not, they’re still present. And as many of us know, the thoughts we try hardest to avoid often pop up at the least convenient times — usually just as we’re trying to fall asleep.
If something is bothering you or exciting you, it won't be ignored. It'll demand attention over and over again until you deal with it.
When I say “deal with it”, I don’t mean “solve it”. I mean recognising that it’s here and allowing it to exist without judging yourself for it.
Some people find it hard to allow feelings they label as negative — anger, envy, pride, self‑pity, or even happiness in certain circumstances. But all of these are perfectly human experiences. And when we stop pushing them away, they often reveal a story about why they’re here.
And look - we've learned a bit more about who we are and what we attach importance to.
This brings us to a key point:
In Mindfulness we are not trying to change anything
We never actively try to force feeling something we're just not feeling. We're only noticing what's already here.
Paradoxically, this gentle non‑interference almost always leads to change over time — because awareness itself is transformative.
I'll tell you more about that in my next blog post ;)
Sonja x
* I want to call out here that attention and awareness may be more difficult (if not impossible) to "train" if you're neurodivergent. I have AuDHD and without medication and ACT, it would have been virtually impossible to get to a point where mindfulness offered me a benefit. There are adaptions and modifications I'll write about in a later post, but please keep this in mind and give yourself all the tools you need ❤️
** This definition was coined by Rob Nairn, founder of the Mindfulness Association.
*** Source: Mindfulness Based Living Course, by Choden and Heather Regan Addis, 2018
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