Mindfulness Awareness – A real life example

As you move through your day, begin to notice what surfaces in your body. Maybe it’s a agitation in the gut or an unwelcome tension that makes itself known. Where does your mind run when that sensation arises? Often it’s straight to panic, fear, or a cascade of “what ifs”—what if it doesn’t go away, what if it means something worse, what if I can’t handle this?

Instead of spiralling, pause. Bring your full awareness to where the discomfort is showing up. Notice it. Acknowledge it. And rather than catastrophising, try asking it questions: Why are you here? What are you trying to tell me? What is one thing I can do right now to ease this? Explore what arises with curiosity, with an interest to understand why it’s there in the first place.

Then breathe into the space. Let the breath expand around the discomfort, giving it room rather than resistance. Notice how the breath softens the edges of anxiety even if it doesn’t erase it, it eases the hold. Naming the sensation, observing it with attention, helps take away its bite.

And when there’s a little more spaciousness, awareness often reveals the cause. Maybe it’s your posture, the environment, the time of day, or even something as simple as an empty stomach.

I think of the mornings when black tea doesn’t sit well, its tannins restless against an unfed stomach. I glance at the clock and realise it’s nearly lunchtime, and between my early workout and work, I’ve had nothing to eat. Awareness brings clarity. The discomfort is traced to a cause. And with recognition, comes a way to resolve it.

This is the quiet power of mindfulness, using attention to listen, to explore, to meet discomfort with awareness, and in doing so, it helps dissipate discomfort in the body and allows the mind to unhook.