What is Mindfulness — Really
“People think that mindfulness or meditation is stopping to think. It has nothing to do with that. Meditation is the action to bring your mind where your body is. If I have one foot in the past and one foot in the future — well, I piss on the present.” — Philippe Jacquet
Mindfulness is the practice of bringing the mind into contact with the present moment — where the body already is. It is not about achieving silence or stopping thought. It is about returning, again and again, to now.
“People think that mindfulness or meditation is stopping to think. It has nothing to do with that. Meditation is the action to bring your mind where your body is. If I have one foot in the past and one foot in the future — well, I piss on the present.” — Philippe Jacquet
The body is always in the present
The body cannot be anywhere except now. The practice is not the staying — it is the returning. Every time the mind wanders and the person notices and comes back: that is the practice.
Why presence matters
“If you want to have meaningful experience, you need to be present. You cannot taste food you are not eating. You cannot feel held by someone you are not with.” — Philippe Jacquet
Recovery from addiction, healing from an eating disorder, Jungian analysis — none of it happens in the past or the future. It happens in the room, in the moment, in the body that is present right now.
Book a consultation with Philippe Jacquet — psychotherapist and Jungian analyst, London.