Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness is the capacity we have to develop open, non-judgemental, conscious attention to and within the experience that unfolds moment by moment.
More than relaxation
The tools of mindfulness have been shown to be effective in managing stress and burn-out, developing resilience, and living with chronic pain. Beyond these benefits and their short- and long-term effects, mindfulness is a quality inherent in our experience of being human.
Some present mindfulness as a means of relaxation and well-being, but this reduces it to a simplistic method with little power. Our capacity to bring attention to experience, open and at the same time highly precise, lets us rediscover natural and fundamental qualities that are too often buried under habits of distraction, where the loss of meaning and of a centre leads us to lose touch with ourselves, our experience and sometimes our life.
How it is practised
The body and the breath
Always in the present
We can travel far with our thoughts, into imagined futures or back into the past, but the body and the breath are always here and now. That is why they are the basis of the practice.
The senses
Seeing, hearing, touching
The practice brings in the senses — sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell — discovering or rediscovering their qualities.
The mind
We are not our thoughts
Thoughts, emotions, moods and mental images are seen from another perspective, which eases inner conflict and lets us meet our vulnerabilities with kindness.
Start practising
The programs offer a structured, guided way into mindfulness, from a five-week introduction to the full eight-week MBSR protocol.