Living in our heads:

‘Mr Duffy lived a short distance from his body’; this is a line from James Joyce’s book Ulysses.
Many of us can resonate with this. Identifying mostly with our minds and living predominantly in our heads, we tend to ignore the fact that we are embodied human beings.

This erroneous error largely evolved from 17th-century philosophy where prominence was given to the world of Ideas and thought, succinctly captured in the words of the French Philosopher Rene Descartes “I think therefore I am”.

In this view, the physical world which includes the body takes a back seat to the mind.
This mind-body dualism largely prevails in western society today.

Mind-Body Disconnect

This dualism has created its own problems; untethered from our bodies the mind often goes off on flights of rumination, worry and anxiety that frequently cause suffering and stress. Just like an anchor holds a boat steady no matter what the weather, reconnecting with our bodies can provide us with shelter and refuge, offering us wisdom that the mind alone can not.

Time Travel:

Our minds are often like time travellers, journeying to the past and ruminating over old events or travelling to the future catastrophising what may or may not happen. On the other hand, our bodies are always situated in the here and now. Reconnecting with our bodies provides a doorway into the present moment, allowing us to see reality as it truly is, contributing to a more balanced and fulfilled life with greater moments of ease as we journey through it.

Mindfulness:

Once the mind is anchored in the present moment, we then see our thoughts and reactions for what they are, identifying those that support us while letting go of old mind patterns and habitual behaviours that do not. Mindfulness helps us to do this, while simultaneously cultivating an attitude of kindness and friendliness towards ourselves and our experience.

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not be overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.

Attitude of friendliness:

This is a gentle process, not a forceful one, and it happens gradually as we build emotional strength and resilience. Resistance and avoidance require a lot of energy and when we choose to soften them a little and actually allow ourselves to be as we are, and our experience to be as it is, we find that we free up energy which can now go towards making wiser choices and taking wiser action.

What Mindfulness is not:

Mindfulness is not about relaxation or chasing a feel-good state. Becoming more relaxed may be a welcome by-product of mindfulness practice,
but it is not the aim. The primary aim of mindfulness is instead about maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations exactly as they are, life in all its messiness and glory.

The more we accept the simplicity of our moment-to-moment experience, the more often we will naturally be present and feel good when been mindful.

As we develop mindfulness, we begin to see our lives, our behaviours, and relationships more clearly and this is not always easy. That is why the attitude we attempt to cultivate alongside our practice is one of kindness, patience, and friendliness towards ourselves and our experience.

The 11 'Dangers' of Mindfulness Meditation | HuffPost UK Life (huffingtonpost.co.uk)