What is Mindfulness?

By Jaqueline Hambrick, PsyD Psychologist Candidate/Postdoctoral Fellow

According to the American Psychological Association, mindfulness is one’s ability to direct awareness to what is happening inside their body. What thoughts, emotions, sensations within your body, and other things that you may notice in that present moment, without any reactions or judgement of ourselves. Mindfulness is a widely used tool for reducing stress/anxiety, making it easier to stop ourselves from otherwise destructive or automatic behaviors, and just being more present in the moment.

Now that we’ve discussed what mindfulness is, it may also be helpful to discuss what it is not. Engaging in mindfulness does not require a completely blank mind; in fact, it’s encouraged. The practice of mindfulness is to enhance our ability to acknowledge thoughts as they come up, and have the ability to let them go and focus on what is happening in the present moment. Mindfulness practice is also not a religious practice; although it’s part of some religious practices, it does not require any specific religious beliefs to practice. Next, mindfulness does not mean that we have to accept wrongdoings that are being done to us. When being told to ‘accept’ things as they are during practice, it might be more helpful to think of it as accepting what is out of our control in that moment. Another common thought is that mindfulness is all meditation. While this is the most common form of mindfulness, it is not the only form. Lastly, a common misconception about mindfulness is that it is time-consuming. In reality, mindfulness can be what you make it! This can be as short as taking a few breaths, and as long as an hour-long body scan or sitting in a quiet space for a certain amount of time.

In all, practice varies and is flexible with your busy life so that you can take a moment (or a few) for yourself! If you’re interested, check out my other blog posts on how mindfulness impacts our brains, the benefits of mindfulness, when to use mindfulness strategies, and examples of mindfulness practices.

References: American Psychological Association. (2026). Mindfulness. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/topics/mindfulness

Gillihan, S. (2016, June 16). 7 myths about mindfulness (and what you need to know). Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/think-act-be/201606/7-myths-about-mindfulness-and-what-you-need-know