Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a method of mental training that increases awareness and improves performance. It is most commonly defined as "being awake and consciously attentive in the present moment" - in contrast to the automatic, mindless functioning that often occurs in daily life (i.e. pulling into the driveway after work and realizing you have no conscious memory of the drive home). Recent studies suggest mindfulness can prevent burnout and positively affect brain patterns underlying stress, anxiety and depression. During a traumatic event, a mindful presence enables a sharper focus on the emergency at hand and decreases the likelihood of dissociation. Later when recalling a traumatic event, mindfulness can increase one’s ability to tolerate distressing emotions - thereby decreasing the need for avoidant types of coping strategies.