Mindfulness – Living in the Here and Now | Benefits & Practices

Now well into the third decade of the 21st century, mindfulness has undoubtedly become one of the biggest trends in personal development.

There are magazines about it, countless techniques, video courses, experts, and so much more…

But mindfulness is not an invention of the coaching industry. Quite the opposite. The major philosophies and religions of the East have been teaching mindfulness for thousands of years.

The core message is always the same: live more in the here and now, and you will be happy!

In this article, we would like to approach mindfulness in a very fundamental way.

So first things first: properly understood, mindfulness is far more than just another tool you read about in a feel-good magazine and then apply here and there.

Properly understood, mindfulness is a philosophy of life that runs through every area of life and helps it flourish. Mindfulness is not an activity but a basic attitude of the mind that can have a revolutionary effect on your relationships, your health, your vitality, or your work.

What is mindfulness?

Let’s begin with a very simple question:

Do you remember whether you got out of bed with your left leg or your right leg first today?

If your answer is “no,” then you were most likely not mindful.

If your answer is “yes,” then you probably do not need to keep reading, because you are already a master of mindfulness.

Unless you know purely by chance because you stubbed your right toe painfully on a Lego brick or some other obstacle and it is still hurting. Then you were not one hundred percent mindful either.

I suspect the answer is more likely “no.”

But before you throw your hands over your face in horror at this faux pas and start mentally whipping yourself, let us reassure you: only a vanishingly small percentage of people in this world could probably answer that question positively.

There are even many monks who meditate in monasteries for years and still find their minds wandering again after ten or twenty conscious breaths.

Being in the here and now

Another word for mindfulness is “presence of mind.” In other words, being truly where you are with your mind and awareness — and not somewhere else. It sounds crazy and absurd, but that is exactly how the human mind is usually wired.

We are everywhere except in the here and now. We occupy ourselves with what happened yesterday, or ten years ago, or what may happen in the future. Or we look at the supposedly much tastier plate of the person next to us in a restaurant and miss the chance to really enjoy our own meal.

Most of the time, we switch into autopilot right after waking up, still in bed. Checking social media, reading emails, mentally going through the to-do list: whoosh — out of the moment.

With mindfulness, everyday life becomes an experience

Mindfulness is not always easy. But above all, mindfulness is one thing: a question of how much you really want to experience your life more intensely.

And if you are truly ready for that and bring a few exercises or routines into your everyday life, it can have enormous effects.

Let’s talk about an everyday form of mindfulness that helps raise your quality of life to a new level.

In research, the medical professor Jon Kabat-Zinn is often quoted. According to him [1], mindfulness is a particular form of attention that…

• is intentional.
• relates to the present moment.
• is non-judgmental.

Why mindfulness is so important

Perhaps you have seen the Japanese videos in which inspectors and safety officers, at important points where human lives are at stake — for example in subways or on airplanes — not only perform every action physically, but also comment on it loudly. This prevents the mind from drifting and stops potentially life-threatening carelessness from setting in.

In some professions, a lack of mindfulness can therefore cost lives.

My thesis, however, is this: strictly speaking, non-mindfulness always costs life. Namely, your own life.

Non-mindfulness costs you the life you could be living. It costs you quality of life. It costs you every precious moment that is irretrievably lost if you do not live it mindfully and with presence of mind.

That may sound a little martial, but my concern is really to sharpen your awareness of the importance of mindfulness.

Do not get me wrong: being mindful does not mean your life will automatically be all sunshine and roses. But:

Mindfulness brings your power back to you

Your life energy follows your awareness, or your attention.

If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.

Thich Nhat Hanh

We live in a world where more and more information and impressions are pouring in on each of us from the outside. If we are not mindful and do not make sure that we move through life centered, our minds are quickly overwhelmed. Mindfulness is conscious deceleration.

Why we are not mindful

The biggest driver of non-mindfulness and the stress that results from it is often thoughts we do not want to have or feelings we do not want to feel.

That is why living more mindfully always means inviting in more of what is already there. All of it.

Here, the “non-judgment” described by Kabat-Zinn is especially important. Anyone who wants to feel positive emotions and open more to the beauty of life may also become more aware of life’s darker sides.

Because they are always there anyway. If we try to push them away, they do not truly disappear, but usually come back even stronger. They become real energy thieves that stress us and drain our energy.

It is important to mention here that we are really talking about “normal” negative aspects of life — for example the fear of rejection, feelings of insecurity, or the sense of powerlessness in an argument. We are not talking about severe pain or deep trauma, where mindfulness is of course not always the best advice.

Social media and mindfulness do not go together

The entertainment industry and social networks intensify the trend toward non-mindfulness even more. It is part of the business model of some companies in these sectors that people like to step out of their own “reality” and occupy themselves with other things.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with watching a good and inspiring film or series every now and then. Or sharing beautiful or exciting moments from your own life with friends or followers.

But if it turns into regularly “parking” your awareness somewhere else, it eventually becomes counterproductive. Because then no active recovery happens with all the advantages we mention in the next section.

A classic example is when you are looking at a picturesque sunset or an overwhelming natural landscape. Today, you see many people only peering through the camera lens, without really perceiving the beauty of the moment with what is also called “panoramic awareness,” another term for mindfulness.

The benefits of mindfulness

Mindfulness brings a whole range of benefits:

• More focus on what you truly want. At the same time, a better connection to your intuition and gut feeling — at least if you direct your mindfulness inward as well as outward.
• Less stress because there are fewer thoughts about the past and the future.
• More patience: slowing down everyday life makes us definitely more gracious when things take longer than expected at the supermarket checkout, for example.
• More quality of life and more intense moments: do you know the feeling that life sometimes rushes right past you? Yesterday it still felt like Christmas, and today fresh strawberries are already on sale again? The key to really savoring our precious lifetime is mindfulness.
• You reconnect with the abundance of the moment instead of your sense of lack. Thanks to mindfulness, you enjoy what you have instead of getting upset about what you supposedly do not have. Constant comparison is one of the greatest challenges to our happiness.
• Better mood: this aspect is naturally intertwined with all the other points. There are many studies showing that mindfulness can have an enormously positive effect on the psyche, for example on mood, general life satisfaction, or emotional regulation. [2]
• More health: on the one hand because there are fewer stress hormones in the body, but on the other hand also because you feel more precisely which foods are good for you, when you should exercise, and so on.

Mindfulness exercises: learning to live in the here and now

After all this background, it is now time to move into practice. It is absolutely possible to learn mindfulness — even if it naturally takes some practice. Everything we share with you is intended to increase your mindfulness in everyday life.

Meditation

Meditation is the holy grail of mindfulness exercises. No matter what is happening around you, there is one thing you always have with you that can always bring you back into the moment. We are talking about your breath!

Many successful (and above all happy) people swear by so-called micro-meditations. They are especially wonderful when we most want to escape mindfulness and automatically reach for our smartphone, for example at the supermarket checkout.

Whenever you notice your thoughts are stressing you out, simply begin to take five to ten deep breaths and focus exclusively on them.

Another approach is so-called observation meditations. You can practice them wherever you are.

For this, you consciously sit or stand and simply notice everything happening around you and inside you. Without judgment. If something comes up that you do not like, just say to yourself inwardly: “Ah, interesting!” Do this for a few minutes and you will notice how your energy fully arrives in the moment.

Mindfulness apps

There are now really hundreds of mindfulness apps on the market. One of the most popular and best at the moment is the app Calm, which you can find for both Android and Apple products.

Self-love, anxiety, inner peace, and relationships are just some of the many categories for which exercises are offered. Calm is especially suitable for people longing for inner quiet.

You can try a seven-day basic program for free. Individual meditations such as “Body Scan” and “Loving-Kindness” are also unlocked. With the annual subscription for about 5 euros per month, all other functions are available as well.

Mindful eating

Alongside sleep, eating is one of the central pillars of our daily life, something we spend a lot of time doing.

Do you eat consciously? Or do you wolf your food down?

Our tip: make eating a fixed ritual of slowing down. Even if you are very busy, it will revolutionize your life if you begin to chew and swallow slowly and consciously. It is best to switch off your smartphone and put aside all other distractions such as newspapers and magazines.

The positive side effects: slow eating and proper chewing are gentler on your digestion. You will also usually feel much more clearly whether what you are eating is really good for your body and gives you lasting energy.

Mindful movement — yoga, Pilates & more

The success of mindful forms of movement such as yoga and Pilates is wonderful — at least as long as it is really about consciously feeling the body and not once again about performance or constant comparison.

Mindful body training, ideally combined with conscious breathing, centers you enormously in the present moment.

YouTube offers a whole range of great yoga videos, including for beginners, for example from Mady Morrison. Just take a look.

What matters is that you listen very carefully to your body. If an exercise does not work for you, simply leave it out and take a few deep breaths instead.

Tantra

When people hear the word “Tantra,” they usually think of erotic massages or wild sexual positions. Very few could say what Tantra actually is. But one thing is certain: Tantra is much more than a sexual act.

If, as intended in Tantra, you practice mindfulness on a sensual and sexual level, you train yourself to notice and appreciate your body’s signals and desires much more precisely.

Conclusion: using mindfulness to increase well-being

There are many reasons why mindfulness is so good for us. Every person longs to be in the here and now and to truly enjoy life.

Now, we have learned in this article that mindfulness does not simply mean that life will now only appear rosy. And yet mindfulness is the foundation of our consciousness, helping us create vitality and direct our life energy in the right ways. The more often you are mindful, the more energy thieves you will be able to banish from your life.