Mindfulness & Counselling
In our fast-moving world, mindfulness has become a familiar word — yet its roots reach far deeper than a modern trend.
The term mindfulness comes from the ancient Pāli word sati, which means remembering (Bai et al., 2022). But this remembering is not about recalling information or the past. It is a deeper kind of remembering — a remembering of our interconnectedness. It’s the act of returning to the fullness of the present moment, to our breath, to our body, and to the wholeness of life that holds us.
In modern psychology, Jon Kabat-Zinn (1990), founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), defines mindfulness as “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Similarly, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) describes mindfulness as “awareness that arises when we intentionally bring our attention to the present moment with curiosity, openness, and kindness.”
Both the ancient and contemporary definitions point to the same essence: mindfulness is about remembering to come home — to ourselves, to our experience, and to the present moment, exactly as it is. Taken together, mindfulness can be understood as the practice of remembering and intentionally returning to presence — meeting our experience just as it is, with compassion and awareness.
In counselling, mindfulness helps clients slow down, notice what is happening inside, and cultivate a more grounded and accepting relationship with their thoughts and emotions. Over time, this allows greater clarity, calm, and resilience to emerge naturally.
This practice, then, holds a deeply transformative potential. Rather than trying to “fix” or avoid discomfort, mindfulness invites us to turn toward our inner life with compassion. We learn to notice our thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations without judgment, and in doing so, we reconnect the mind, body, and heart. Over time, this gentle awareness helps us respond to life’s challenges with more clarity, calm, and care.
Different mindfulness-based practices can help us cultivate this gentle, non-judgmental awareness. There are the more well-known practices of mindful breathing and body scan, done in a sitting or lying down posture. However, there are also ones that tend to be less known, yet can easily be integrated into one’s daily life, such as mindful tea-drinking and mindful walking.
If you’re interested in exploring more about what a mindfulness- and embodied approach to counselling might look like, please reach out for a free consult.
References
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Delacorte.
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2018). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression(2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.