Mindful Awareness

UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center

Mindfulness is making the news these days. It has been depicted in the media primarily as a tool to hone attention, to cultivate sensory awareness, and to keep us in the present moment.

Developing these tools takes effort and determination, but why is it we can sometimes be mindful without really even trying? Perhaps we were naturally mindful at points in life before we ever learned what mindfulness was. Maybe we feel naturally connected, present, and at ease in nature. Or we become mindful while talking authentically with a friend, or in the midst of music, art, or athletic activity.

Mindfulness is not only a meditation technique, but also a state of being. This state is available to anyone; it is a natural human capacity. Mindfulness practice, as a tool, is tremendously helpful to cultivate this awareness, and the state can arise at any moment. Mindfulness is also connected to a set of powerful outcomes: happiness, emotional regulation, compassion, altruism, and kindness.

We encourage you to attend an array of offerings to cultivate the moment-to-moment awareness, which is the foundation of our practice.



 Link: http://marc.ucla.edu/