Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.

This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.

Okay. You're listening to the Friday fix. Every Friday, I share a quick mental strength exercise that will help fix the thoughts, emotions, and actions that drain you of the mental strength you need to be your best.

Today, I'm talking about mindfulness. It's a form of meditation, and there are a lot of misconceptions about what it is and how to use it. So I'm going to share some quick benefits. I'm going to clear

up the misconceptions, and then I'll give you four really simple strategies that can help you practice living in the

moment right now. First, though, let's talk about what mindfulness is. It's all about being

fully present in the moment. The truth is most of us struggle to do that. We're always thinking

about something that happened yesterday, something we should do later today, something

we're worried about, or something that we just don't want to forget. Rather than focusing on what

is happening right here and right now, sometimes it just becomes a habit. Our minds are always elsewhere.

And I notice when I'm not being mindful, I do some pretty silly things. For example, I forget where I park the car

when I step outside the grocery store. I have zero recollection of where the car is because I wasn't

paying attention to what I was doing when I parked it. I was thinking about probably a zillion other things.

Or sometimes when I'm not being mindful, I'll lose the same thing several times in a row.

Like I'll put my phone down and then have no idea where I put it.

As soon as I find it, I put it down again and lose it.

That's because I'm thinking about something completely different.

Whenever I get scattered and forgetful and really disorganized, I know that I need to practice being more mindful.

Of course, you might have your own warning signs that clue you in when you're not paying

attention to the moment. Maybe you forget what you're saying in the middle of a sentence,

or you might lose track of time because you're mindlessly scrolling through social media.

Or maybe when you're listening to somebody talk, you realize suddenly that you have no

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