Mindful or Mind Full? How to Stay Present

Key takeaways

• "Mindful" and "mind full" are two very different states, and most of us are mind full.
• You don't have to be mindful 24/7. That's a myth.
• The whole practice: notice when your mind wanders, and gently bring it back.
• "The minute you realize you're not present, you're present."

What Nina Covers

Nina Purewal reframes one familiar word: "You can look at the word mindful, or you can look at it as two words. Are you mind full?" Her point is that most of us move through the day with a full mind rather than a present one. She gives an everyday example: you can go for a walk and miss all of it. "Are you ever actually just walking and observing the trees and smelling the fresh air... feeling the gravel on your feet? No. There are a million things going through our minds about challenging people and situations and past traumas and what to make for lunch."

She also clears up a common myth, that you have to stay present every second: "There's a misconception that when you're mindful, you have to be mindful 24/7. It doesn't work that way." The practice is simply to notice when your mind has wandered and gently return: "Catch it and bring it back, and catch it and bring it back."

Video Transcript

Full transcript, Nina Purewal:

You know, you can look at the word mindful, or you can look at it as two words. Are you mind full? So often we are doing a task, like going for a walk. Are you ever actually just walking and observing the trees and smelling the fresh air and listening to the birds and feeling the gravel on your feet? No. There are a million things going through our minds about challenging people and situations and past traumas and what to make for lunch. So our minds are constantly going. And I think there's a misconception that when you're mindful, you have to be mindful 24/7. It doesn't work that way. You need to just be aware that the mind is running off. Catch it and bring it back, and catch it and bring it back. I believe it was Eckhart Tolle who said the minute you realize you're not present, you're present.

Common Questions

What's the difference between being mindful and "mind full"?

As Nina puts it, you can read "mindful" as two words: are you mind full? Being mindful means your attention is on what's actually happening now. Being mind full means your head is crowded with everything else, the to-do list, old conversations, what's for lunch. Most of us are mind full far more often than we're mindful.

Why do I struggle to stay present?

Because the mind is built to wander. As Nina describes it, even on a simple walk "there are a million things going through our minds." That's normal, not a personal failing. Being present isn't the absence of those thoughts, it's noticing them and choosing to come back.

Do you have to be mindful all the time?

No. Nina calls this a common misconception: "There's a misconception that when you're mindful, you have to be mindful 24/7. It doesn't work that way." The goal isn't constant focus, it's catching yourself when you've drifted and returning to the moment, as many times as you need.

How do you bring yourself back to the present?

Nina's whole method is one line: "Catch it and bring it back, and catch it and bring it back." When you notice your attention has wandered, gently return it to what you're doing right now, your breath, your steps, the sounds around you. She closes with a thought she credits to Eckhart Tolle: "The minute you realize you're not present, you're present."

Why Being Present Matters

Learning to come back to the present isn't only calming, it's measurable. In a Harvard study published in Science, researchers Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert found that people's minds wander about 47% of the time, and that a wandering mind tends to be a less happy one. In other words, the simple act of noticing you've drifted and returning, exactly what Nina describes, is one of the most reliable ways to feel more grounded day to day.

About Nina Purewal: Nina Purewal is an international bestselling author and the founder of Pure Minds Inc, where she shares practical, down-to-earth mindfulness tools for everyday life, the same approachable style she brings to this video.

Keep Exploring

• How Overthinking Makes Anxiety and Stress Worse: a longer read on what a too-full mind does.
• 5-Minute Mindful Grounding Exercises: a quick way to come back to the present.