Mindfulness: Coming Home to the Present Moment
In a world that never stops moving, mindfulness can sound almost impossible — or even indulgent. Many people picture someone sitting cross-legged in silence for hours, trying not to think. But mindfulness isn’t about clearing your mind; it’s about showing up for what’s already here.
It’s the gentle, ongoing practice of returning — to your breath, your body, your senses, your life — over and over again.
At its heart, mindfulness is about coming home to yourself.
1. The Mind That Wanders
The human mind is wired to wander. We replay the past, predict the future, and fill the space between with commentary, judgement, and planning.
This is how the brain keeps us safe — scanning for danger, solving problems before they arise. But when that same mechanism runs on autopilot, it pulls us out of the only place we can actually live: the present moment.
Neuroscientists call this mental chatter the default mode network — a circuit that lights up when the mind drifts. Studies show that mindfulness reduces activity in this network and strengthens regions like the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, which help with focus, emotion regulation, and perspective.
In other words, mindfulness doesn’t just make you feel calmer — it changes the architecture of your brain to support calm.
2. The DBT Perspective: Observe, Describe, Participate
In Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), mindfulness isn’t a side practice — it’s the foundation of every other skill.
DBT breaks mindfulness into three simple steps:
Observe – Notice what’s happening inside and around you. Don’t judge or label it; just notice.
Describe – Put words to what you notice. “I’m feeling tension in my chest.” “I’m thinking about tomorrow.” Naming engages the prefrontal cortex and settles the emotional brain.
Participate – Engage fully in the present activity. When you walk, walk. When you eat, eat. When you listen, really listen.
These steps turn awareness into action. They help you reconnect with your life as it unfolds, instead of living in reaction to it.
3. The Psychology of Presence
When you slow down enough to notice your own experience, something profound happens: the brain’s threat response begins to quiet.
The amygdala, which acts like your internal alarm, learns that not every uncomfortable feeling is an emergency. Over time, mindfulness strengthens neural pathways that link the amygdala with the hippocampus (memory) and prefrontal cortex (reasoning), allowing emotions to be processed rather than avoided.
This is why mindfulness is so effective for anxiety, depression, and trauma recovery — it teaches the body and mind to stay rather than run.
You don’t have to suppress thoughts or force stillness. You simply practice being here, even if “here” feels messy or uncomfortable.
4. Jung’s View: Consciousness and the Soul
Carl Jung believed that the psyche strives toward wholeness — a balance between the conscious and unconscious, the rational and intuitive.
Mindfulness is one way we meet the unconscious halfway. When we slow down, we start noticing subtle emotions, impulses, and symbols that usually live beneath awareness. A dream that lingers, a tension in the stomach, a moment of quiet intuition — these are all whispers from the deeper self.
Jung wrote, “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
Mindfulness, then, becomes not just a relaxation technique but a spiritual discipline: an awakening to our own inner life.
5. Going Back to the Body
Modern life encourages us to live in our heads — online, on screens, in narratives of productivity. But mindfulness reminds us that the body is the anchor of presence.
In therapy, I often encourage clients to notice what’s happening physically before trying to interpret it mentally:
Where do you feel tension or warmth?
What happens in your breath when you talk about that memory?
Can you sense your feet on the ground right now?
These small check-ins regulate the vagus nerve, which governs the body’s rest-and-digest response. With each conscious breath, you send a message of safety through your entire system.
The more you practice, the easier it becomes for your body to return to calm — not because life is easy, but because you’ve built a path back to yourself.
6. The Practice of Everyday Mindfulness
Mindfulness isn’t limited to meditation cushions. It lives in the ordinary moments that make up your day.
Try these gentle practices:
Mindful mornings: Before checking your phone, notice five sounds, four things you see, three sensations, two scents, one thought.
Mindful eating: Pause halfway through a meal and really taste what’s in your mouth.
Mindful walking: Feel your feet make contact with the earth. Notice how your body moves with each step.
Mindful emotion: When you feel anxious, instead of asking why, ask what — “What’s happening in my body right now?”
Mindful gratitude: Before bed, name three moments of calm or beauty from the day.
Small moments of attention compound. The brain learns safety through repetition, not intensity.
7. When Mindfulness Feels Impossible
Some days, slowing down might actually feel harder than keeping busy. If you have a history of trauma or anxiety, stillness can activate old memories or sensations.
That’s normal. Mindfulness is not about forcing peace; it’s about learning to titrate presence — staying connected just enough that your nervous system feels safe.
If mindfulness feels triggering, start externally: notice colours, textures, or sounds. Gradually work inward, perhaps with the support of a therapist trained in trauma-informed mindfulness or EMDR.
Grounding, pacing, and compassion always come before deep exploration.
8. Why It Matters
Mindfulness doesn’t make life perfect. It makes it real.
It reminds you that beneath the noise of thought, you are already whole — that peace isn’t something you achieve, but something you uncover when you stop running from the present moment.
It’s both deeply ordinary and quietly sacred.
In DBT terms, mindfulness helps us live in Wise Mind — the integration of emotion and reason. In Jungian terms, it reconnects us to the Self — the deeper source of meaning and vitality.
In human terms, it helps us remember that we can breathe, feel, and begin again — right here.
