Mindfulness is a way of looking after your mind by paying close attention to what you are experiencing right now — your breath, your body, the sounds in the room — especially during quiet sitting. The idea is not to chase every thought, and not to call the feeling “good” or “bad”; you notice it, then come back to now. Hospitals, schools, and phone apps teach it as a skill for feeling less rushed and less tight inside. It grew out of older Buddhist ways of sitting, though most classes today present it as mental training, not as a religion. People stretch the word a lot: any “slow down” poster may say mindfulness. The core picture is still that close, present-moment attention, often in quiet meditation.