Mindful NZ Schools

Introduced into medicine thirty years ago by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, mindfulness has become a successful mainstream influence in medicine, psychology, corporate training, and now education. There are many definitions of what mindfulness is. In short, it can be described as; ‘to purposefully pay attention the present moment’. Mindfulness can be applied to sensory experience, thought and emotions by noticing what is occurring without reacting to it. There is an impressive and growing body of research available on the benefits of Mindfulness practices for adults, children and adolescents.

When you begin to practice mindfulness almost immediately you become aware of a new spaciousness inside yourself, a calmness and stillness- you give your mind a rest from incessant thinking and reacting.

The body plays a big part in mindfulness because as we learn to become aware of the sensations in our bodies, we learn to listen to the messages our bodies send us. Our bodies register emotions through feelings, i.e. tensions create tightening and clenching of the muscles and joy creates a feeling of wellbeing. Whatever the feeling the body signals by paying attention we can become more mindful; bring attention out of our minds/thinking and into our bodies. We can stop thinking and simply be present without doing anything. In our fast paced, often over stimulated lives, filled minute by minute with ‘doing’ something, this can be very rejuvenating and restorative. We discover whole new areas of ourselves that we previously covered over with business. We begin to access a gentler way of being with less anxiety and we become more attentive to the people around us.

Being aware of your body, how it feels, the sensations inside it helps you become more present, let go of incessant aimless thinking and anchors you in the here and now in gentle meaningful way. You choose to be awake to life and get out of the robotic behaviours you previously lived by. This in turns brings a new vitality to your life; colour looks richer, the air is fresher, your mind is clearer, you process information more easily, you remain alert and aware to the mystery of life unfolding around you minute by minute, you escape from the robotic, repetitiveness of a life dulled by familiarity and repetition, people seem more unique as the spiritual beings they all are.