Mindfulness is the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without being carried away by it. Mindfulness has been around in Buddhist tradition for the last 2,500 thousand years. Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people who are experiencing a variety of psychological conditions because studies have shown that rumination and worry contribute to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety which in turn may lead to physical illness. Most of us are permanently trapped in some form of anxiety. The practice of mindfulness diffuses our negativity, aggression, pain, suffering, and frustration, which may have been gathering power. Rather than suppressing emotions or indulging in them, here it is important to view them, and your thoughts, and whatever arises with an acceptance and a generosity that are as open and spacious as possible. Listen to the podcast to learn how to use a simple mindfulness technique.
