Student Wellbeing

What's mindfulness?

Mindfulness involves training our attention and attitude

Being mindful means awareness of your own moment-to-moment internal and external experiences, with gentleness and acceptance and without judgment. It’s a state of being that encourages us to slow down, focus on the present, accept things as they are, and act with discernment. When we do this, we may find that we are able to think more about the here and now. Mindfulness may sometimes bring up strong feelings for some people, so it’s important to be gentle with yourself about whether mindfulness works for you.

What does it mean to be unmindful?

To better understand what it means to be mindful, it helps to understand what it means to be ‘unmindful’. When we’re inattentive, distracted and disengaged from the present moment, the mind habitually and unconsciously slips into what’s called ‘default mode’ – we’re physically doing one thing but the mind is somewhere else. For example, someone might be speaking to us, but we’re not listening, or we might be reading a book but not taking in the words on the page.

Much default mental activity involves things such as worry or rumination about the past and future, which is one of the main reasons there’s so much default mental activity in states like anxiety and depression.

Mindfulness is very simple

It’s a practical way to notice thoughts, physical sensations, sights, sounds, smells, or anything that you might not normally notice. The moment we re-engage attention with the present moment, we switch off default mode. It gets us back on task, helps the body to relax, and helps us to respond to the moment. Despite this simplicity, mindfulness doesn’t come easily to us.

You may have noticed that the ability to focus on the current moment can come naturally to some children and young people. While we might be hurrying them to get to school on time, they’ll stop to look at butterflies, flowers or bugs and be immersed in that moment, with no worries about the past or future. As adults, however, we’re often thinking about what we need to do next or what we wish we’d done differently. 

Mindfulness takes practise

Mindfulness is about learning to make a conscious and discerning choice where our attention lies, rather than allowing it to be dominated by concerns which take us away from experiencing the present moment. It allows us to stay open, curious and flexible about the moment that we’re in.

The Resilience Project app

This app is a daily well-being journal where you can identify and track your emotions, record moments of gratitude, and practice mindfulness. The aim is to develop emotional literacy, engage with the positive things in life, and be actively present.

The app is suitable for all ages, and includes the option to create profiles for each member of the family. Download via iTunes or Google Play.

Regards

Jenny Willmott

jwillmott@sjvmulgrave.catholic.edu.au

Deputy Principal/ Student Wellbeing Leader