The term in the Talmud for mindfulness is kavanat lev, ‘the directing of the
heart.’ Real mindfulness comes about not by an act
of violence against our consciousness, not by force, not by trying to control our consciousness, but rather, by a kind of directed compassion, a softening of our awareness, a loving embrace of our lives, a soft letting be.
What were to happen if we were to look more deeply at the things we don’t like about ourselves instead of beating ourselves up about them?