Mental Health as Mindfulness

I've heard on numerous occasions people discuss mindfulness, meditation, and mental health as if they are separate entities. That couldn't be further from the truth. When I was a psychotherapist in a private practice, I would practice mindfulness and meditation with each one of my clients, and it helped to improve their mental health greatly. So remembering that mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment on purpose without judgment. The present moment includes your mental health state. Meditation is a way of practicing mindfulness that ultimately trains us to pull out of an autopilot mind state and consistently be in touch with how we are doing mentally in each moment. And we're not just mental beings, we are also physical and emotional beings. And each of these aspects of ourselves are interrelated and affect each other. This meditation we will do today allows us to check in with each of these different aspects of ourselves with attentiveness and without judgment. And so dropping into practice now. Adopting a comfortable and dignified posture of awareness. Allowing the feet to be flat on the floor or legs comfortably crossed if you're on a cushion. Hands resting on your knees or in your lap. Whatever is most comfortable for you. Noticing your sit bones grounding on the surface beneath you. The back is nice and straight. Not too tight, not too loose. Perhaps shrugging your shoulders up to your ears, rounding them back, and then gently dropping them. And allowing your eyes to establish a soft, open gaze, looking slightly downward but not really focusing on anything in particular. Or it may be more comfortable for you to close your eyes. That's perfectly fine too. And now just shifting the attention to your breathing. Noticing the coming and going of your breath. No need to control or manipulate your breathing in any way. So breathing naturally. Breathing normally. And as we check in with the different aspects of ourselves, the invitation is to do so without judgment, without inquiry as to why or how. And also without the need to change or fix anything that we discover. It's just a brief check-in. And doing so with gentle and kind curiosity. And so now with your next breath, shifting your attention to your mental self. Your thoughts. Just noticing the thoughts that are flowing through your mind. And noticing them without getting attached to any one thought in particular. Perhaps visualizing your thoughts as gentle clouds in the blue sky. And you're just watching them as they float by. No judgment. No inquiries. No need to change or fix anything. And with your next breath, allowing yourself to notice how you're feeling physically. Just noticing any sensations throughout your body. Perhaps doing a mini-body scan from head to toe. And, again, noticing without judgment, without inquiry, and without the need to change or fix anything that you discover. And with your next breath, now shifting your attention to your emotions. Noticing any emotions...