Mindful Awareness, Meditation, and Mental Health

Contrary to what pop culture stereotypes may say, meditation is not just an activity for modest monks and hermetic hippies.

No one is saying that you have to order boxes of incense or research and recite Buddhist chants. At its core, meditation is a personal experience and it can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be.

So, what about mindful awareness?

At first glance, the phrase ‘mindful awareness’ seems to inspire meanings like ‘attentive’, ‘thoughtful’, and ‘observant’ – however, there is more to it than that. Let’s see what the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA has to say about mindful awareness.

“Mindful Awareness is the moment-by-moment process of actively and openly observing one’s physical, mental and emotional experiences.”

This is a relatively simple definition of the concept but it does get the core ideas across perfectly.

Things to Keep In Mind

Remember, meditation is a personal experience and it can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be. However, as a newcomer, there are certain things that you should keep in mind (no pun intended).

  1. Avoid distracting environments if you can. A veteran yogi may be able to easily meditate in a bustling coffee shop in Manhattan; however, you likely won’t be able to. To meditate, you’re going to need time away from crying kids, screeching cars, and blaring alarms.

  2. Be consistent with your sessions. Mindful awareness and meditation are skills that need to develop over time. Establish a set duration (3 min, 5 min, 10 min, etc.) and also a set frequency (twice a day, once a day, 4 days a week, etc.).

  3. A place to sit, that is comfortable, is an absolute necessity. Standing meditation and walking meditation are real practices but as a newcomer, you’re going to want to start with sitting. Chair, cushion, bed, it doesn't matter where you sit, just make sure that you’re comfortable.

How Mindful Awareness Helps You

One of the primary benefits of mindful awareness (and meditation) is the positive impact that it has on mental health. This can include:

  • Alleviating anxiety

  • Reducing stress

  • Increasing clarity

  • Heightening perceptiveness

In addition to these short-term effects, by sticking to a regular schedule of mindful awareness through meditation, you are training yourself to have a higher attention span. A useful trait to develop in this modern age that is dominated by 24-hour news cycles and an endless supply of social media apps.