What is Mindfulness Practice?

Mindfulness is the ever-changing activity of knowing what is going on for you in each moment - like physical sensations, thoughts, emotions, and all the sensations that make up each moment. It is non-judgmental. It is not forced. When mindfulness is sustained and coupled with clear understanding, it develops into wisdom or a deeper understanding of things as they are.

When we do mindfulness practice, we incline ourselves to know what is going on with wise attention, in a non-judgmental way. When we realize we have lost mindfulness and are aware of it - we have regained mindfulness. It's self correcting in that way. Persistence is key. Mindfulness can be maintained in short moments that are threaded together to form larger periods of mindfulness throughout the day. Every moment awake is an opportunity for mindfulness.

People come to mindfulness practice for a variety of reasons. You can phrase why we do mindfulness practice in different ways: gradual cultivation of joy, minimizing stress and suffering, developing wisdom and deeper understanding of the way things are, and many more. 

Mahapajapati - The Buddha's Step Mother in Burmese Sandalwood - At IRC.