A Clear Explanation

Mindfulness is about connecting to your awareness in a particular way. It is about learning to bring your awareness to notice what’s happening in your mind and body or your environment right now, with curiosity and acceptance rather than judgment. Once you can accept what is actually happening, you can then make skilful choices about what to do. Skilful choices are those that create less suffering for self and others, whilst unskilful choices create more suffering for self and other.

It is therefore about working with your mind rather than a relaxation strategy. The secular mindfulness I teach has it’s roots in 2500 years of learning and practice.

Why Does This Matter?

Most of the time, our minds are stuck thinking about the past or worrying about the future. When this happens, we often react to emotions and thoughts from yesterday or tomorrow as if they’re happening right now. This leads us to make impulsive decisions that can create unnecessary suffering for ourselves and others. We might call this unskilful choices

The Cinema Analogy

Think of your mind like a cinema projector. The projector itself is your natural awareness—always present, always shining. Your thoughts, emotions, and sensations are like films passing through the light of your awareness, and they appear on the screen of the mind.

When we’re not mindful, we get completely absorbed in the “movie” of our thoughts, emotions and sensations. We forget that we’re just watching a story unfold in the mind. We react as if the film is reality itself—getting upset, excited, or overwhelmed by what we see on screen.

But when you practice mindfulness, you remember that thoughts are not facts—they’re just information passing through your awareness, like the film through the projector’s light. This recognition gives you freedom to choose how to respond rather than simply reacting.

The Practical Benefit

Learning mindfulness from an experienced teacher can help you make more skilful choices. Instead of being carried away by every thought or emotion, you can pause, and notice what’s actually happening right now, and respond in ways that create less suffering for yourself and others.

Mindfulness is not about being happy or relaxed all the time or pushing away difficult feelings. It’s about accepting the full range of human experience—you are “the whole rainbow of emotions”—while learning to respond skilfully rather than react unskilfully.