What is Mindfulness?
- Murron O'Neill, LCSW
- Oct 6
- 2 min read
Mindfulness is such a common term these days that it seems to have lost its meaning. Most, if not all, forms of mental health treatment include some aspects of “mindfulness” or mindful behavior. Mindfulness apps like Headspace have reached more than 100 million users in recent years, and its popularity has undeniably increased.
That being said, when asked about their past experiences, many will speak to some form of the following:
Well…I’ve tried it, but I just get so bored. It’s so hard to focus on.
I’m not good at it, my mind has too many thoughts to even start to focus on one thing.
It stresses me out to even try to do nothing and just “be mindful”. I’m so awful at it.
If this sounds like something you are experiencing, you are certainly not alone.
However, those who hold the opinion that they are “bad” at mindfulness often end up having an incorrect view of what “mindfulness” actually means, or how to go about accessing it for therapeutic benefit.
Many come into mindfulness practice that to be “good” at mindfulness, one has to keep their attention within specific boundaries and never be interrupted by any other thoughts.
They believe that if their attention is captured by something either within their own head (thoughts, feelings, worries, fears, etc) or externally (sounds, other distractions) then they have failed. And each time their attention is re-captured, they have failed again.
The good news is that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Mindfulness is not about always being able to perfectly control your attention - this would be unrealistic and against human safety and evolution as a topic! Humans evolved to be able to be on the lookout for potential dangers, so if you are trying to focus on your breathing and you get distracted by the sound of a horn outside, that is no different than your ancestor focusing on building something only to hear the sounds of a predator moving around outside.
The goal of mindfulness is not to always, 100% of the time, without even the slightest misstep, pay attention to whatever the exercise is asking you to pay attention to. It’s more making the decision to actively shift your attention, over and over again, to the thing you want to focus on. And each time you do so, even if it’s 500 times in a five-minute session, you have successfully practiced mindfulness.
If Compassionate Healing can be of assistance to you during your mindfulness journey, please do not hesitate to contact us.