Mindfulness is everywhere these days.
It has become a buzzword for calm and focus, sold through apps, podcasts, and workplace wellness programs. Yet if it were really as simple as taking three deep breaths, we would all already be living in perfect balance. The truth is that mindfulness is not just a technique. It is a way of living.
Most of us spend far more time half-awake than we realise. We drive to work and barely remember the journey. We scroll without thinking, eat without tasting, and speak without really listening. Life slips by while we are somewhere else lost in thought, memory, or anticipation. This state of living on autopilot, sometimes described as a kind of waking sleep, drains our energy and leaves us feeling disconnected.
The present moment, however, is always here.
Philosophers have long observed that the past is gone and the future is yet to arrive. All we ever truly possess is now. And yet the present moment is often overlooked, treated as nothing more than a narrow slice between what was and what might be. When we learn to rest our attention in the present, something extraordinary happens. The mind clears, the senses awaken, and problems that once felt overwhelming lose their grip. What felt like a small, fleeting instant reveals itself as something far larger, full of possibility.
As we pay more attention to the quality of our awareness, we also notice the energy with which we move through life.
Some days we feel restless and driven, other times heavy and sluggish, and sometimes more rarely clear and calm. These shifts are not random moods but patterns of energy. With mindfulness we begin to recognise them for what they are. Rather than being carried away by restlessness or held down by inertia, we can find balance, knowing when to act, when to pause, and when to simply be still.
Mindfulness also changes the way we encounter beauty. A sunset, a piece of music, a kind gesture these moments are not simply pleasing distractions. They remind us that beauty is not only in the world around us but also within us. When we are truly present, we notice more, and the more we notice, the more connected we feel to ourselves, to others, and to life itself.
Mindfulness is not about escaping the pressures of life.
It is about meeting them more fully, with greater clarity and strength. It invites us to ask deeper questions: Who am I, really? What does it mean to live wisely? How can I meet life’s challenges without being ruled by fear, anger, or habit? These are not abstract puzzles but practical questions that shape the quality of our daily lives.
At the School of Philosophy, these questions are at the heart of the Introductory Course. Mindfulness is the beginning, the doorway through which we step into a richer and more purposeful life. It is more than a pause or a breathing exercise. It is the art of being truly awake.