Mindfulness is paying attention. Think that’s really easy? Read on…
“Mindfulness is paying attention with curiosity and without judgement… and it’s something you can practise at any time.”
Who needs to practise paying attention – after all, it’s a breeze, isn’t it? For some, maybe. But for most it’s harder than you might think. You might not realise it, but a lot of time is spent on auto pilot, carrying out tasks and activities and even conversations without a lot of awareness of what you’re doing. Have you ever got to the bottom of a page in a book and realised you haven’t actually read anything you were ‘reading’? Or have you ever said something to someone that you immediately wished you hadn’t?
Mindfulness can help us be better at paying attention, so we don’t make careless mistakes or miss out on information. When you think about it, the ability to pay attention is probably one of the most important skills we need as human beings. This is why many of the features and activities in Teen Breathe will involve bringing your awareness to your breath, your feelings, your thoughts or perhaps the sensations in your body. It might seem silly at first to focus so carefully on your breath, but what you are doing is really important – you are practising the crucial skill of paying attention.
Mindfulness is also about paying attention in a particular way. When we are mindful, we are curious. Instead of thinking we know exactly what is going to happen, we leave open the possibility that things could be entirely different from our expectations. Can you think of a time when you were talking to a friend and you had the thought, ‘Oh, I know exactly what she’s going to say right now…’? Maybe then you didn’t listen as carefully, because you were certain you knew where the conversation was going. There are many amazing things to be experienced when you pay attention with curiosity – gorgeous sunsets, meaningful conversations, yummy desserts, and beautiful music, to name a few. And here’s something special: researchers have found that we are happiest when we are paying attention to what we are doing, regardless of how ‘pleasant’ the thing we are doing is. So mindfulness doesn’t just help us pay attention, it can also help us enjoy our lives more.
HOW TO PRACTISE MINDFULNESS:
TAKE THE CAMERA VIEW
Mindfulness is also about paying attention without judgement. It’s your brain’s job to constantly evaluate things to make sure you are safe. But a lot of the time, all those judgements and evaluations from your brain can make you feel pretty miserable and lost in your thoughts.
With mindfulness, you try to observe things like a camera would, capturing what is actually happening, and not adding anything else. What might this look like? Imagine your teacher asks everyone to close their eyes, and then asks you to listen to a bell she is ringing. You bring your attention to the sound and you immediately notice all the judgements your mind starts to make about something as minor as the sound of a bell.
BE CURIOUS, BE PATIENT, BE OPEN
When you pay attention without judgement, you simply notice what is happening. If you find that you do start judging things, that’s okay. It’s what minds do. What is important is that you notice it. Mindfulness helps you understand how your mind works. When you notice judgements and commentary, see if you can shift your attention back to the camera view of what is actually happening. And then see if it feels different when you pay attention that way.
