Mindfulness: A Practice of Paying Attention

You might be wondering what the big fuss over paying attention is about. You're paying attention all the time. You paid attention to what clothes you wore today; you paid attention to what breakfast you had this morning; you paid attention to saying goodbye to your loved ones before leaving the house; you paid attention to what your colleague shared with you about the challenges of the project; you paid attention while driving back home from work. 

Well, did you really? 

In mindfulness, to pay attention when doing something is to know that you are doing it while doing it. It is knowing what is happening while it is happening (1). And it is also more than just that. To practice mindfulness is to practice paying attention in a meaningful way, with awareness of each present moment of the experience.

​When you are changing into your clothes, you are fully aware of the movements you are making, instead of thinking about the presentation you are due to give that morning. When you are having your breakfast, instead of checking your emails on your phone, you are aware of the food and colours on your plate, the dance of flavours on your taste buds, the presence of your family at the breakfast table. When you say goodbye to your loved ones, you are fully aware of your child's small, warm body hugging your own, and of your partner's kiss on your cheek. 

But why is this important?

​We are often living through life without really being there, without being fully present, and more often than not, before we know it, the moment is gone. This happens even more in our technology-driven world, where we feel compelled to check our phones almost every minute of the day and accomplish so many things all at once. We run on auto-pilot in an environment filled with distractions and stressors. We are multi-tasking and striving all the time, not knowing when we should take a pause, and overtime breaking down from pressure. We lose ourselves in obsessing about past events or worrying about things that have not happened. We miss precious moments with ourselves and our loved ones. 

​When we learn to pay attention in mindfulness, we learn to cultivate this present moment awareness, to experience each moment "as a new beginning, a new opportunity to start over, to tune in, to reconnect" (2). To fully experience each moment is to live life to its fullest. And it works wonders for our sanity and well-being. Mindfully paying attention keeps our state of mind more balanced, grounded and at peace. 


Learn how to pay attention by participating in the 8-Week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. 

(1) Rob Nairn, 1999, Diamond Mind: A Psychology of Meditation
(2) Jon Kabat-Zinn, 2013, Full Catastrophe Living: How to cope with stress, pain and illness using mindfulness meditation