What is mindfulness anyway? A quick Google search describes it as “the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.” Dig a little deeper and you’ll find a lot of words alluding to awareness, present moment, calmness, attention and focus. We’ve all experienced being mindful, whether we’re conscious of it or not. Think of a time you were fully attuned to the person you were with or engaged in an activity you loved. You weren’t distracted by random thoughts in your head or social media notifications on your phone. You were simply in the moment. Now imagine being able to access that state of mind on command. Mindfulness, through meditation, helps you to do just that. Think of it like the gym, but instead of working on your glutes with squat repetitions, you’re strengthening key regions in the brain through meditation practice. Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of the Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program says “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness. Mindfulness means being awake. It means knowing what you are doing.”