Bite-Sized Mindfulness

Why it Doesn't Need To Take All Day!

- BY Zara Esufally

I can see how having yet another thing to allocate time for (when you really should be doing that other thing) can make you not want to do it. This is perhaps the biggest reason mindfulness is so often dismissed by those why need it most.

So, you're running late for a meeting, and you've spilt coffee down your shirt. You're working on 5 concurrent projects and they're all due tomorrow; you hardly have time to eat or sleep andsomeone wants you to meditate about it!? No chance.

Right, so you keep saying that word, but you haven't told us what it is...

Mindfulness is a state in which an individual is objectively aware of their thoughts, feelings and sensations without judgement or immediate action. Although such introspection may be uncomfortable at first, it allows us to identify and build resilience to negative self-talk and fully process our emotions before responding to our environment. It is also effective in taking us out of fight or flight mode by shifting our focus to the present moment and reducing reactivity to stressors.

But isn't it a religious thing?