Mindfulness in its most general sense is about waking up from a life on automatic, and being sensitive to novelty in everyday experiences.
According to Dan Siegel in his excellent "The Mindful Brain", he defines "mind" as a process "that regulates the flow of energy and information".
This mind is fully embodied and there is a flow of energy and information from brain to body and vice versa.
But there is also a relational dimension to the flow of energy and information between people. You dear reader are receiving this flow as I type and you read-thus shaping your mind and mine too.
With mindful awareness the flow of energy and information that is our mind enters our conscious attention and we can both appreciate its contents and come to regulate its flow in a new way. We become aware of mind itself and instead of being on automatic pilot we can make more choices and thus change becomes possible.
Jon Kabat Zinn is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
In the video above he talks about one of the 9 attitudes that underpin cultivating mindful awareness. Jon talks about Beginners Mind and one aspect of his definition is bringing a freshness to our perception and not to get so stuck on our ideas and opinions that we haven't fully investigated.
In the series of short videos below, Jon Kabat-Zinn gives us 9 meditation tips. I think you’ll find them very helpful and insightful.
As many of you know meditation is the formal practice of mindfulness (formal meaning that we take specific time out of our lives to practice mindfulness (the informal practice is called the rest of your life!)
Here Jon shares with us the what he calls the 9 attitudes that create a strong foundation for mindfulness and meditation practice.
He also co wrote a book with his wife Myla called "Everyday Blessings", one of the first and perhaps the best book available on mindful parenting.
