Essential Qualities of Mindfulness
Skills for Modern Life - MNDFL 7

 

The MNDFL 7 are qualities of the mindfulness we need today. Modern Mindfulness must be rooted in the realities of our time - including the ways it anchors us to presence as well as the ways mindfulness invites us into engagement with the world around us. 

 

CURIOSITY - Essential to our caretaking ability is a non-judgmental attitude. In mindfulness when we return again and again to our object of meditation we do so with openness and curiosity rather than opinions and self blame or criticism.

AWARENESS - Our mind possesses the innate qualities of paying attention. We can simultaneously focus the mind one one thing, while also being panoramically aware of our surroundings. With mindfulness we can attend to the minute details and profound reverence in the very same breath.

PRESENCE - Presence isn’t something we activate, rather a naturally arising state of being. Even in difficult or painful circumstances, our ability to be present with them arises a genuine, authentic sense of self that radiates to others sometimes without even words or gestures.

ETHICS - The multidimensional nature of mental wellbeing invites us to consider all the factors from personal to interpersonal to societal when we care for ourselves and others. Mindfulness is not merely one person sitting quietly still (although that may be a part of it!) Mindfulness is asking questions about the multiplicity of connections for each human being. Mindfulness helps us appreciate how very much we don’t know about any other person’s experience.

COMPASSION - Mindfulness can be a powerful antidote to compassion fatigue. Giving selflessly while forgetting what our own self needs to sustain is a vital mindfulness practice. Compassion starts at home, and mindfulness is a key tool for that practice.

ACCEPTANCE - Mindfulness invites us to ‘be with’ whatever is going on in the present moment. We aren’t foregoing action, remediation, care or change-making. However, to be productive in our actions we first live into the fullness of what is in front of us. Insight and options become more accessible.

ENGAGEMENT - Stigmas around mental health and wellbeing have long overshadowed efforts to provide care and support. Mindfulness as a worldview sheds light on how interconnected we really are. None of us is separate from the implications of mental health concerns and challenges. When this level of reality is felt on a visceral level - through mindfulness - mental wellbeing is difficult to ignore, turn the other cheek, or pretend it’s not happening.  

May we all be free from suffering, harm, and disillusionment. Help bring mindfulness to the world. Whether you would like to learn the fundamentals, self-study, deepen your practice, or become certified to share mindfulness with your communities, we have a path for you.