Mindfulness is a natural capacity, present in all of us to some extent. It involves paying purposeful attention to our experience, with particular attitudes like openness and curiosity. We are all too familiar with its opposite: a heedless, distracted state that’s often described as ‘autopilot’. This default inattentiveness and disengagement from present experience can mean we react to life out of habit or impulse rather than care and consideration. When we spend more time alive to our experience, however, we unlock our potential for learning and growing and are better able to respond creatively to life’s challenges.
Jamie Bristow, Director of The Mindfulness Initiative