On September 12, we celebrate World Mindfulness Day by bringing our attention to the value and practice of mindfulness.

‘Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.’ Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn

"It is perfectly normal to feel distracted. Research has shown that about half of the time (47%), we are not really paying attention to what’s going on around us. Unless you have to focus on a recipe, most of us are likely to chop, sauté, dice, dress a salad, and serve it up without really thinking about it step by step. But one study from Harvard University reported that people are happier when their mind is not wandering from what they are doing.

Practicing mindfulness benefits you by strengthening your emotional control, so you can better deal with uncertainty and stress, and all that it brings you on a day-to-day basis. It increases your awareness of your inner critic and finding ease and agency when you become unsettled or confused.

You might have a task to complete and find that your mind wanders toward another task that needs starting, or towards where you wish you were instead, or to some problem that happened in the past, or back to other thoughts and worries in your life. The more you notice your thoughts and choose which ones that you focus on, the stronger your circuits get. One way to do this is through meditation."