Nine essential qualities of mindfulness

Here's a good overview of what mindfulness is all about. Nine qualities are listed in the Psychology Today piece by psychologist Melanie Greenberg.

Great advice for living. Read the whole article to feast on the full mindfulness meal.

Focus on the Present Moment—When your thoughts get lost in thinking about the past or worrying about the future, you bring them back to what you are experiencing right now.

Being Fully Present—You are spaciously aware of whatever you are experiencing in the present moment as you go through your daily life. 

Openness to Experience—Rather than dreading and shutting out your own feelings and experiences because you think you can't handle them, you welcome with curiosity any thoughts and feelings that naturally arise, knowing they are merely sensations in the moment and the next moment can be different. 

Non-Judgment—You don't categorize your thoughts and feelings as good or bad, try to change them, or feel compelled to act on them.

Acceptance of Things as They Are—You don't try to force or change reality to fit your vision of what it should be, feel like a victim, or bemoan the unfairness of life.

Connection—You feel connected to all living things and nature in being part of a larger whole. 

Non-Attachment—You do not try to hold onto things, people, or experiences, knowing that life is in constant flow. 

Peace and Equanimity—You maintain an even-keel, not getting too swept up in life's highs and lows. 

Compassion—You deal gently, kindly, and patiently with yourself and others.

Comments

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"Non-Attachment—You do not try to hold onto things, people, or experiences, knowing that life is in constant flow."

We get attached to transitory things because they're transitory, not because we don't know any better. It's about values, not "knowing". If we valued "constant flow" above all else, we'd never get attached.