What exactly is mindfulness?
It is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Mindfulness also entails acceptance, which is paying attention to our thoughts and feelings without criticising them—for example, without assuming that there is a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment. When we practise mindfulness, our thoughts shift from rehashing the past to imagining the future. One way mindfulness might help is simply by improving our focus. When we jump from one duty to the next, the quality of our work suffers...