What is Mindfulness Meditation?
A common misconception is that meditation is when we completely empty our mind and think of nothing. Take a few moments now and try to think of no-thing...

What do you notice?
Most of us will find that thoughts, feelings and sensations seem to 'bubble up' in the mind, filling the space we've temporarily made. When we try and push those thoughts away, they seem to get stronger and demand more of our attention.
Meditation is not about having a blank and unchanging mind. It is about training the mind to become more aware of the thoughts when they bubble up.
Our mind produces thousands of thoughts every second at a subconscious level, but only a few of these come into our conscious awareness, usually involuntarily, but sometimes through conscious choice.
That's what our amazing mind does - it is continually creating.
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a world-renowned meditation teacher and Tibetan Buddhist monk explains that the mind is like a monkey in a house, constantly jumping around everywhere. However, when we give the monkey something to do, it will tend to settle down and become more peaceful.
So when practising meditation, give the 'monkey mind' a focus, such as the breath to keep it occupied. This could be the sensations of the air moving in and out of the nose, the gentle rise and fall of the chest, or any number of other bodily sensations that involve the breath.

Thoughts, feelings and memories will inevitably arise, and when they do, acknowledge and accept them without judgement or trying push them away. If it's a particularly strong thought, you could say to it, "Thank you for coming. I accept you". Then gently and with kindness to yourself, return to the breath.
There is no forcing in meditation. We are simply training ourselves to become more aware of our thoughts as they arise.
One of my clients came to me suffering from anxiety, so we had a session on how to practise mindfulness meditation. A week later, she was very excited to explain that after practising the meditation for a few days, she noticed that her anxious thoughts were much fewer than normal, and that she felt much calmer in general. She went on to explain, "It was a whole different shift, and I've started to become more aware of my thoughts during the day".

Training the mind in this way empowers us to live a more peaceful and self-directed life. Rather than letting our minds speed along on autopilot, jumping from one thought to another and letting the monkey wreak havoc in the house (often resulting in anxiety), we can cultivate our awareness, live more in the present moment and as a result feel more alive.
By practising mindfulness meditation for just a few minutes every day, we can also discover more appreciation and gratitude for our present experience. Ultimately, this leads to less stress and anxiety, better health, and feeling happier and more connectedness to life.
You might like to try this simple 5 minute guided mindfulness meditation. I'd love to hear your comments and learn about your experiences of mindfulness - please feel free to leave a comment below.