Mindfulness Meditation — The Practice of Coming Home to Yourself
july 9th 2026
By Ken Breen — Intuitive Reiki Master, Infinite Energy Source, Footscray Melbourne
The mind is an extraordinary instrument. It can plan, analyse, create, remember, imagine, and solve. It can compose symphonies and design cathedrals and explore the furthest reaches of mathematics and philosophy.
And left entirely to its own devices, without practice or training, it will spend the vast majority of its time replaying the past or rehearsing the future — and almost none of its time in the only place where life actually occurs.
Here. Now. This moment.
Mindfulness meditation is the practice of returning to the present moment — not once, not twice, but continuously, patiently, without judgement. It is the training of attention. The cultivation of presence. And it is, without question, one of the most thoroughly researched and genuinely transformative practices available to a human being.
"Wherever you go, there you are."
— Jon Kabat-Zinn
What Mindfulness Actually Is — And What It Isn't
Genuine mindfulness meditation — rooted in the 2,500-year-old tradition of Vipassana ("clear seeing") in Buddhist practice, and now extensively studied by Western neuroscience and clinical psychology — is the practice of observing your own experience: thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, impulses — with clear, non-reactive, non-judgmental awareness.
Not controlling your thoughts. Not eliminating your thoughts. Not achieving a blank mind. But simply watching — with the patient, curious attention of a scientist — what actually arises in the field of your awareness, moment to moment.
This distinction is crucial, because most beginners expect meditation to feel like peace — and are dismayed when the opposite seems to be true. The mind, when first asked to be still, reveals exactly how unstill it actually is. Thoughts arise relentlessly. Emotions surface. The body fidgets.
This is not failure. This is the practice working exactly as it should.
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."
— Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation
The scientific evidence for regular mindfulness meditation practice has reached an extraordinary point.
Research led by Sara Lazar at Harvard Medical School found that regular meditators show measurable increases in the thickness of the prefrontal cortex — the region associated with attention, decision-making, and emotional regulation — with this effect observed even in older participants, suggesting meditation may slow age-related cortical thinning.
Studies on the amygdala — the brain's threat-detection centre, chronically overactive in anxious individuals — consistently show that regular mindfulness practice reduces amygdala reactivity and density. The brain becomes measurably less reactive to threat.
The clinical benefits are equally well-documented: significant reductions in anxiety and depression (mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is now a first-line NHS recommendation for recurrent depression); improved immune function; reduced cortisol and inflammatory markers; improved cardiovascular health; enhanced creativity; and a reliably reported increase in overall life satisfaction and wellbeing.
"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It's a way of entering into the quiet that's already there — buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day."
— Deepak Chopra
Mindfulness and the Energy Body
From an energy healing perspective, mindfulness meditation has profound effects that go beyond what neuroscience currently measures.
The practice of sustained present-moment awareness is, at the energetic level, the practice of grounding — bringing consciousness fully into the body and the present moment. This grounding has direct effects on the root chakra, which governs safety, stability, and connection to the physical world.
As the nervous system settles through consistent mindfulness practice, the energy body also settles. The aura becomes more coherent. The chakra system comes into greater balance. The energetic reactivity that characterises most people's field gradually gives way to a more stable, more genuinely grounded presence.
This is why mindfulness and energy healing work so powerfully together. Mindfulness creates the inner spaciousness that allows energy healing to go deeper. Energy healing clears the blocks that make sustained mindfulness practice easier and more accessible.
How to Begin — A Simple Practice
- Find a comfortable seated position with your spine gently upright. A chair is perfectly fine.
- Close your eyes, or soften your gaze downward.
- Bring your attention to the physical sensations of breathing — the rise and fall of your chest or belly, the feeling of air moving through your nostrils, the brief pause between inhale and exhale.
- When your attention wanders — and it will, repeatedly — simply notice that it has wandered, and gently, without judgement or frustration, bring it back.
- Continue for five to twenty minutes.
That is the practice. In its simplicity is everything.
"The thing about meditation is: you become more and more you."
— David Lynch
Frequently Asked Questions
I can't stop my thoughts. Am I doing it wrong?
An emphatic no. The goal of mindfulness meditation is not to stop thinking — that is neither possible nor the point. The goal is to change your relationship with your thoughts — to observe them arising and passing without being pulled entirely into them. Every time you notice you've been lost in thought and return your attention to the breath, that is the practice succeeding, not failing.
How long do I need to meditate to see results?
Research suggests that even ten to fifteen minutes of consistent daily practice begins to produce measurable neurological changes within eight weeks. The key is consistency, not duration. Five minutes every day is far more valuable than an hour once a week.
How does mindfulness relate to Reiki?
Both practices cultivate present-moment awareness and support the natural regulation of the nervous system. Many clients find their mindfulness practice deepens significantly after Reiki Synergy Sessions — and that having an established mindfulness practice allows them to receive and integrate the energetic work more deeply.
Are there different types of meditation?
Yes. Mindfulness (open awareness), focused attention (breath or mantra), loving-kindness (metta), visualisation, transcendental meditation, and guided meditation are among the most widely practised forms. Mindfulness is an excellent foundation from which to explore the others.