WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?

Mindfulness is the practice of living your life as if it really mattered, and that involves bringing your attention into the present moment with openhearted presence, and kindness to yourself. The latest research in mindfulness is showing that it is possible to actually practice paying attention in systematic ways that changes the way the brain is wired, changes the way the brain functions, and changes the very structure of the brain in ways that enhance well-being, clarity, and multiple intelligences. We are discovering that the human brain is capable of profound plasticity, and that it changes in relationship to experience.

We are finding also that the practice of mindfulness is even driving which genes in our chromosomes are being up regulated and which genes are being down regulated. This means we have a lot more freedom to transform our organism and our experience, and to attain a degree of profound wellbeing and satisfaction greater than what we ever thought.

Through the practice of mindfulness, even in very stressful situations we can move into the actuality of the situation and find ways to move with it and regulate our own reactivity to it. So that in a very deep way we are not running away, and we are not pushing through anything, but we are allowing things to unfold as they do. That is the heart of wellbeing and creativity, and it is this way that we get the most work done with the least distraction and the least effort.