We now know what mindfulness is and we know the difference that purposeful mindfulness can make. But intellectualy knowing is no substitution for experiencing... only when we experience do we truly know. So, today, in Week 7, we explore how to experience - and thereby develop - mindfulness.

Remember, you can revisit earlier installments using the links below:

Find a quiet place where you can sit upright, with your eyes closed, for five minutes. Having closed your eyes, spend the next five minutes (you can set the timer on your 'phone) simply listening to what you hear. It won't come naturally - your mind is wired to listen to the voices in your head in preference to reality. But, simply listening to the sounds around you and noticing as each sound passes by, is the essence of mindfulness.

If you're not completley immersed in the reality of this moment, you have missed this moment of your life... and you'll never have the opportunity to experience it again. Sadly, as a result of evolutionary pressures, our minds evolved in such a way to distance us from our own lives. Running on autopilot, our brains are wired to enable us make it through the day but, in the process, completely miss the experience of the day that's in it.

Mindfulness is, in essence, the experience of the reality of the moment. Purposeful mindfulness is the application of that tuned-in state of mind in the service of what we want to achieve in life, this week, or today. Our biggest objective, of course, must be to live our lives to the full - thereby effortlessly ensuring that we achieve our individual and unique objectives. Mindfulness is the key to this.

Today's Quick Tip appears to be all too simple: sit and listen for five minutes. It's not simple at all... see how far your mind can wander in five minutes! But, more importantly, how can it be that something so apparently simple could possibly make such an impact on our ability to live life to the full?

Hearing reality - for even five minutes - engages you in the reality of your life: not your perceived reality with all its personality-related flaws, real reality. I use the word engage very deliberately because this form of mental excercise engages the brain's Central Executive. The Central Executive's role is to coordinated your actions so that they are both goal-congruent and impeccably executed. Sadly, because our brain runs on autopilot, the adult Central Executive is rarely engaged.

Mindfulness engages the Central Executive and, in doing so, fully engages you in your own life... and your life will never be the same.