Making Sense of Mindfulness

We made a little pun out of the title there...did you get it? In today's GirlTip we focus on mindfulness, and mindfulness has so much to do with our senses. Before we get to that please click here to see a short (less than two minutes) video on mindfulness.

Okay, if you really clicked on the link and watched the video then you are probably a little confused about what Kung Fu Panda has to do with mindfulness. Mindfulness is about actively turning one's attention to the present moment. However, this is not done carelessly. Mindfulness is also an attitude about HOW you live in the moment and tune in to your present experience.

Susan Kaiser-Greenland is a mindfulness educator who has a specialty in working with youth. In this article, Rich Presta mentions Susan's easy ABC model for understanding mindfulness. Mindfulness involves ATTENTION, BALANCE, and COMPASSION. The article goes on to explain the difference between mindfulness and meditation and how mindfulness can help with anxiety. We really suggest reading this one all the way through.

So, let's go back to the Kung Fu Panda clip. In the clip, Po is down on himself and rather upset. Master Oogway tries to share with him the gift of mindfulness, the gift of being in the present. To allow the present to be a gift, one must accept a non-judgmental attitude and purposefully connect with all the senses. Here's another video that gives you more information on this very useful and very powerful practice!

To learn more about mindfulness visit some of our other GirlTip posts and stay tuned for next week's tip that deals with mindfulness and homework!!!