Mindfulness and General Mental Health

Sometimes the words “mindfulness” and “meditation” are used interchangeably, and it can be confusing. One easy way to think about it is to consider that mindfulness can be practiced in a formal or informal way.

The informal practice of mindfulness is basically being present in our day-to-day life with whatever we’re doing. If we really taste the food we eat, see the sights around us, listen to what others are saying, feel the warm water on our skin when we shower, etc. then we are engaged in the informal practice of mindfulness.

The formal practice of mindfulness is meditation. It’s a way to reduce distractions, quiet ourselves and unplug from the doing part of life so that we can more deeply focus on just being fully present.

Generally, the reason we meditate is so there can be enough stability in the mind to be able to actually engage in the informal practice and really be present in everything we do.

The informal practice of mindfulness takes no additional time at all. You simply do the things you’re doing with more awareness. The formal practice can take as much or as little time as you like. Some research suggests that even a few minutes of meditation a day can have a positive impact on the brain and result in other benefits. Frequent small periods of practice are generally considered to result in better outcomes that infrequent longer periods of practice.

The word “mindfulness” seems to be popping up everywhere these days, and some of the material being offered as part of this movement may lack grounding in science. It is reassuring to note that there are forms of mindfulness training which have been developed with a commitment to research-based results. This has led to some evidence-based mindfulness skills training options which, in some cases, have decades of proof supporting how useful it can be.

Intermountain is committed to offering evidence-based mindfulness skills training taught by qualified instructors.