There are three elements to living mindfully, intention, practice and the attitude we bring to our practice. These are beautifully summed up in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s early definition of mindfulness;

“Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”

Paying attention in a particular way, in the present moment, is the basis of formal and informal mindfulness practice. On purpose is the intention to practice and non-judgement is one of the nine attitudes which deepen our practice.  The incorporation of all three elements cultivates our moment by moment awareness in everyday life.  We become more present, Intention is why we do it, practice is what we do and attitude is how we do it.

Practice

There is a growing body of evidence and scientific research demonstrating the many benefits of regular mindfulness practice. There are now a plethora of books and apps and online resources available to learn and develop mindfulness practice. Regular practice can improve our well being and our relationships with others.  Throughout your time teaching we recommend regular practice and to continue building your knowledge of mindfulness by reading other books.

Intention

Every conscious action we take begins with an intention whether to make a cup of tea or or land on the moon.  Our intentions are fueled by our motivation – to quench our thirst or to go where no man has gone before and our belief.  We are generally motivated to benefit ourselves and/or others.  Awareness of our motivation and beliefs reinforces our intentions and leads to action.  To live mindfully we must therefore set the intention to practice moment by moment awareness.

Attitudes

Jon Kabat-Zinn describes 9 foundational attitudes of mindfulness. These can be applied to our meditation practice, but can also be applied to our lives more broadly. These attitudes build the foundations of our mindful plans throughout this training.  They are as follows:

• Beginners Mind- An open, beginner’s mind allows us to be receptive to new possibilities and prevents us
  from getting stuck in the rut of our own expertise. No moment is the same as any other – each one is unique
  and contains unique possibilities. Are you able to see the sky, the stars, the trees, with a clear and uncluttered
  mind?

• Non-Judgement- Being an impartial witness of your own experience requires that you become aware of the
  constant stream of judging and reacting to inner and outer experiences that we are normally caught up in,
  observe it, and step back from it. Just observe how much you are preoccupied with liking and disliking during a
  ten-minute period as you go about your business.

• Non-striving- Meditation’s only goal is for you to be yourself. The irony is that you already are. This
  craziness may be pointing you toward a new way of seeing yourself, one in which you are trying less and being
  more. If you think, “I am going to get relaxed, control my pain, or become a better person”, you have introduced
  an idea in your mind of where you should be, and that you are not OK right now. This attitude undermines
  mindfulness, which involves simply paying attention to whatever is happening.

• Letting Go- When we start paying attention to our inner experience, we rapidly discover that there are
  certain thoughts and feelings and situations that the mind seems to want to hold on to. Similarly, there are
  others that we try to get rid of or prevent or protect ourselves from having. In mindfulness, we intentionally put
  aside the elevation of some experiences more than others. Instead, we let our experience be what it is. Letting
  go is a way of letting things be, without grasping and pushing away. If you have difficulty picturing what letting
  go feels like, picture holding on. Holding on is the opposite of letting go. Letting go is not a foreign experience –
  we do it every time we go to sleep. If we can’t let go, we find we are unable to sleep. Now we can practice
  applying this skill in waking situations as well.
• Acceptance- Seeing things as they actually are in the present. If you have a headache, accept that you
  have a headache. In the course of our daily lives, we often waste a lot of energy denying and resisting what is
  already fact. When we do that, we are basically trying to force situations to be the way we would like them to
  be, which only makes for more tension, which actually prevents positive change from occurring. Acceptance
  sets the stage for acting appropriately in your life, no matter what is happening.

• Gratitude-is described often as having two qualities to it. The first is appreciation: You recognise that something is valuable to you, which has nothing to do with its monetary worth. The second quality: this is that gratitude is gratis-freely given to you.Gratitude is the unearned increments in an experience given to you.  There is a feeling that spontaneously emerges from within from gratitude. However, it is not simply an emotional response; it is also a choice we make. We can choose to be grateful, or we can choose to be ungrateful—to take our gifts and blessings for granted. As a choice, gratitude is an attitude or disposition

• Generosity- Generosity is the act of being kind, selfless, and giving to others. Despite being an act that is done to benefit others’ well-being, generosity also paradoxically increases our well-being. So being generous is a fantastic way to improve your mental health and well-being.  It is the act of giving and not expecting in return from others from your gifts or actions.

• Patience – A form of wisdom, it demonstrates that we accept the fact that sometimes things must unfold in
  their own time. We intentionally remind ourselves not to be impatient with ourselves because we are tense or
  agitated or frightened. We give ourselves room to have these experiences. Why? Because we are having
  them anyway! Each moment is your life in that moment.
• Trust – Developing a basic trust in yourself and your feelings is an integral part of meditation training. It is
  far better to trust in your intuition and your own authority, even if you make some mistakes, than always to look
  outside yourself for guidance. If something doesn’t feel right, why not honour your feelings? It is impossible to
  be like somebody else. Your only hope is to become more fully yourself.

There are lots of overlaps between these attitudes. In a sense they represent different facets.