Are meditation and mindfulness the same thing?

Paying attention to the present moment on purpose, with no judgment. This is an established definition of mindfulness. Try it now. Cast your eyes down, or close them, and see if you can notice everything there is to notice about your soundscape. Sounds coming from nearby, and sounds coming from further away. See if you can pay your full attention to these noises. One minute… Go!

Doubtless there were many sounds, layers of them. Some familiar, some new, or at least ones you may not have noticed before. The sounds would have been there whether you chose to pay attention to them or not, but in that instance, you were trying to make them your main focus.

We can choose to do anything mindfully, and when we do, we are often more present. We are in the moment, rather than being distracted by something else, most commonly our thoughts. When we do things mindfully, we can experience tranquillity in the dullest of tasks, we can discover calm and clarity amidst the chaos.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? So why don’t we just do everything mindfully then?

Distractions. Of every variety, in every moment of our waking lives. It seems we are the most distractable that we have ever been, taking longer than ever to get back to a task once our mind has wandered away from it. Our connectivity and technology don’t help the situation: alerts, notifications and emails pinging in our pockets on top of the everyday mayhem.

Meditation to the rescue?

This is where meditation can come in. A way to train the brain to literally stay where you put it. And when it does get distracted, it’s possible to gently refocus without going round the supermarket, visiting 1992, or ironing a school uniform in your mind before you do.

Meditation is about strengthening neural pathways. It is the toning of a muscle that enables us to have focus when we need it, better sleep, more confidence and lower blood pressure, to name but a few benefits.

When you first try mindful meditation, it can feel like it is simply being mindful, but by the very nature of the repetitive refocussing every time your mind wanders, it’s more than just being present. Meditation is about being present with the intention of being open and aware, and to bring your awareness back to any given focal point when your mind wanders.

Whilst technically any activity can be a meditation, without that brain training it is tricky to stay in the moment. Don’t beat yourself up about this. Our brains wander, it’s just what they do.

People often say they can’t meditate because they can’t clear their minds, it’s just way too busy up there! Happily, we are not trying to clear our minds (although with practice it can become quieter) and it could be argued that the more your mind wanders, if you are able to refocus, the more benefit you get.

My priority with students is to give a good foundation in meditation, because it will automatically follow that it is easier to do things mindfully. The more mindful we are, the more we can enjoy our life, and the less moments we miss because we were simply not in the moment.

Meditation and mindfulness go hand in hand beautifully, they are not mutually exclusive. But one without the other is, in my opinion, like having chips without ketchup, or a bucket without a spade. Contact me to find out about working together.