Today, we are focusing on mindfulness. Now I know some of you are thinking “Mindfulness? Isn’t that for yoga nuts and Buddhist monks?” not exactly. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines mindfulness as: “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences.” To put it simply, mindfulness is about staying in the present moment and allowing the present to be as it is, without placing judgment on it.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) there are currently 16 million Americans who are living with Major Depression and had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

This statistic matters because one of the hallmarks of depression is feeling alone and like no one else could possibly feel as bad or you do or even understand how bad you feel. The reality is, millions of people do feel just as bad as you do and you are not alone with this struggle but many times we don’t realize this.