Meditation

The terms mindfulness and meditation are often used interchangeably, but they actually mean different things. Meditation refers to focusing your attention on a certain thought or feeling, while mindfulness refers more broadly to being fully engaged in the moment while maintaining an attitude of openness, acceptance, and curiosity. While meditation can be used to accomplish mindfulness goals, so can a variety of other skills such as deep breathing or yoga. There is a common misconception that the overall purpose of meditation is to help you “clear your mind;” however, the real goal of meditation is to provide a space for you to simply observe and let go of negative and self-critical thoughts as you focus your attention on a mantra that brings you to a place of compassion and self-acceptance. During therapy, you and your counselor may decide to use meditation with the help of a pre-developed mantra or a mantra that you write for yourself.