Mindfulness is being completely engaged in a moment. You are being mindful when completely engrossed in a conversation, activity or in nature.

It can be difficult to sustain mindfulness for a long time, especially when doing something mundane. Do you ever find yourself at work, and wonder how you got there? It's incredible how often we switch to auto-pilot during a routine work day.

Contrast this to when you're travelling. When things are interesting and new, your attention and mind is completely captivated by your environment. This is why memories of our holidays are so vivid, and why people often describe their working week as "a blur".

To live our life as "a blur" seems such a waste of the time we're given.

Meditation is training oneself to be mindful. Regular meditation practice makes it easier to switch to a mindful state, and to be able to sustain this for longer.

Meditation teaches us to engage in the little moments that make up our lives. We become less reliant on external stimulation, such as new experiences or new things, to fully engage us and to make us feel present in our life. When we learn to create a state of full awareness for ourselves, every moment in life becomes new and full of wander.

For me, "living mindfully" means engaging in life - in the mundane as well as the extraordinary.