Mindful Awareness: Not Just Another Thing to Add to Your “To Do” List

For some people, the word mindfulness has become enough to make them switch off.

Perhaps it brings to mind meditation apps, morning routines, breathing exercises, or another thing we're meant to find time for in an already full day. Maybe you've tried it before and thought, this really isn't for me.

We understand that.

Because somewhere along the way, mindfulness became a thing to do. And in all of the conversation around how to practise it properly, we may have lost sight of something quite simple at its centre:

Mindful awareness begins with noticing.

Where Did Mindfulness Come From?

Mindfulness has a long and rich history, with practices of mindful awareness deeply rooted in Eastern contemplative traditions, particularly Buddhism, for thousands of years, long before it entered psychology clinics, wellbeing programs and smartphone apps.

As mindfulness has become more widely incorporated into Western psychology and the Wellness Industry, research has helped us better understand how these longstanding approaches can support attention, awareness and our capacity to respond to our experiences with greater intention.

It feels important to acknowledge and respect the origins of these practices, while also recognising the ways they continue to be understood, adapted and shared in contemporary settings.

As mindfulness has moved into mainstream wellbeing culture, it has sometimes become packaged as just another strategy: meditate for ten minutes, clear your mind, feel calmer. This can make mindfulness feel inaccessible, or simply a little irritating because sometimes your mind isn't calm. Sometimes you don't have ten quiet minutes. Sometimes you are halfway through making breakfast, someone needs you, your phone is buzzing, you've remembered the email you forgot to send, and your thoughts are already three steps ahead.

Mindful awareness can happen there, too.

Our Competing Attention

We live in a time where a lot is competing for our attention. Emails arrive while we're talking to someone, our phones sit beside us while we're watching television, we listen to something while driving, scroll while waiting and mentally move onto the next task before we've quite finished the one we're doing.

Our attention is being pulled somewhere almost constantly. So perhaps mindful awareness doesn't need to begin with trying to hold our attention perfectly. Perhaps it begins with noticing when it has been pulled away.

• I'm noticing I'm thinking about work while my child is talking to me.

• I'm noticing I've picked up my phone without really deciding to.

• I'm noticing my shoulders have tightened.

• I'm noticing I'm already preparing my response instead of listening.

• I'm noticing I really want this feeling to go away.

That moment of noticing is mindful awareness. You don't necessarily need to fix anything, you don't even have to stop what you're doing. The email might genuinely need a response, your attention might need to move somewhere else. The difference is that, for a moment, you know that it has.

The Space In Between

One of our favourite ideas about mindful awareness comes from the often-quoted words:

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom" – Viktor Frankl

We often think about mindful awareness as sitting somewhere within that space. Something happens, your body responds, a thought appears, an emotion arrives, and you feel the urge to react.

Sometimes we notice that space, that doesn't mean we suddenly make the most calm or wise choice. When we're overwhelmed, tired or stretched thin, that space can feel incredibly small. However, noticing creates the possibility of a pause. With practice, we can become a little more familiar with what happens inside us before we respond automatically.

The One Another Perspective

We're less interested in mindfulness as another wellbeing task to get right, and more interested in what happens when we become curious about our own experience.

• What is happening in my body right now?

• Where has my attention gone?

• What am I feeling the urge to do?

• What might I need?

That awareness matters not only for our own regulation, but for our relationships. When we can notice a little more of what is happening within us, we have more information available to us when we're responding to the people around us. It isn't about being endlessly present, calm or self-aware, it's about becoming a little easier to notice ourselves.

Something to Try This Week

Rather than adding a mindfulness practice to your day, find one inside something you're already doing.

It might be making your morning coffee…For a few seconds, notice the warmth of the mug… The smell…The first sip… Notice where your mind is… Notice what your body feels like.

Or try something a bit more challenging… notice one moment when your attention gets pulled away. You don't need to bring it back. Simply notice: "Oh, my attention just went over there". That's it, that's mindful awareness too.

You can also explore our Mindful Awareness Resource which summarises our thoughts and prompts reflection. Use this for your own moments of reflection or alongside clients.