Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment.

This means being aware of what’s going on right now. When we lead busy lives, we very rarely stop and think about what’s going on around us. Mindfulness is about practising that in a number of ways.

Mindfulness can seem like a vague concept because there are lots of different ways to practise it. Here are some concrete examples of what that can mean:

• During a journey, taking notice of the things you pass along the way – the sights, the sounds, and the smells.
• Making small changes to your routine to be more aware of where you are and what you’re experiencing
• Sitting for a moment and just listen to the things around you
• Closing your eyes, breathing slowly, and paying attention to whatever thoughts come to you, recognising them, then letting them go

Mindfulness is a practice with Buddhist origins, and has been practised for thousands of years. Many people treat mindfulness as a religious practice, but it has also been adopted in western healthcare, and you can receive mindfulness therapies on the NHS.

You don’t have to be religious to practise mindfulness – you can just practice the technique if you want. After all, that is what it is at the core – a technique for stepping back and being more aware of what’s going on.

Mindfulness-based therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for a variety of mental health difficulties, including depression. The NHS currently offers mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for people who have recurring depression with three or more relapses.

Mindfulness can help improve your wellbeing by:

• Increasing your awareness of your thoughts
• Detaching you from your thoughts and helping you to consider whether or not they are helpful
• Helping you practise thinking about your thoughts in a non-judgemental way and being kinder to yourself
• Making you feel calmer.

Mindfulness can also be helpful for people who don’t have mental health difficulties. We all deal with stressful events, worry about things, and have negative thoughts that go round and round in our heads. Mindfulness can help us to be more aware of how we’re feeling. It can help us step back from our situation to calm down. Above all, it can help us feel like we’re in control, because we can always detach ourselves from our thoughts and feelings.

Practising mindfulness is generally a helpful exercise, but there are some situations where it has the potential to be harmful. If you have severe depression, or you’re experiencing a serious episode, making yourself even more aware of your thoughts and feelings might be too distressing to help. It may be more suitable if you experience mild depression. But it’s important to check this with your GP.

There’s a wide range of ways to practice mindfulness, whether you read a mindfulness book, listen to a mindfulness audiobook, attend a mindfulness session, or even go on a mindfulness retreat. However, not everybody who teaches mindfulness is qualified to deal with mental health difficulties and how you might react to a mindfulness session.

The problem is that mindfulness has been exploded in popularity, and it can be difficult to work out which courses, books, or groups actually work. This is why many people are understandably wary of mindfulness.

The Oxford Mindfulness centre has some tips on practising mindfulness safely:

• Try out something of a low-intensity, such as a mindfulness book, recording, or an app. Something like a retreat is best thought of as a “high-intensity” way of practising mindfulness, and could be riskier.
• If you want to practise mindfulness with a teacher, consult a mental health professional like a GP or specialist first, and see if they have any recommendations.
• Choose a teacher from the UK Network of Mindfulness-based Teachers.