Mindfulness practice, like physical exercise, requires repetition and time to produce noticeable changes in everyday life. Over time, thanks to neuroplasticity, practising mindfulness can change the physical structure of one’s brain.

Mindfulness is practised mainly through consciously focusing one’s attention on a particular object, such as the breath, body, emotions, thoughts, or sounds, or by bringing an open and receptive attention to the coming and going of thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.

The opposite of mindfulness is forgetfulness, wandering attention, or autopilot.

When practising mindfulness, the attention will naturally be pulled to stimuli that are greater than our capacity to stay focused on a chosen object (e.g. breath or body sensations). This will happen again and again. At some point, we notice or wake up to the fact that our attention has moved into such places as daydreaming, our to-do list or a recent argument with a friend. This is the crucial moment when one crosses over from automatic pilot to mindful awareness. Only then can we bring our attention back to our intended object of focus. This act of returning our attention, over and over again, is the central practice, the thing that builds our mindfulness