In this day and age, anyone with access to the internet has access to hundreds of thousands, if not more, pages of information on every topic imaginable. Because of this, many people change their philosophies and beliefs quite frequently in hopes to create a shift in their life. In recent years, mindfulness has become a mainstream lifestyle choice seen in books, on television and written about by various publications. The question is, what is mindfulness?

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is a professor of medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who is credited with piquing interest in mindfulness in the western world.

“Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally,” Kabat-Zinn told Forbes.

The journey to mindfulness, though, is one with many ups and downs; there is no secret overnight trick to becoming mindful. Creating such a major shift takes months of trial and error, but many people find themselves drifting from their practices after about a month or so.

Practicing mindfulness means something different for everyone. However, most people have the same end goal in mind: finding peace. The most basic practice is simply to find what makes you feel enlightened or at peace. Meditation in the modern world has somewhat of a humorous connotation as it is most commonly seen in movies being practiced by monks and Buddhists. Contrary to popular belief, meditation is actually a tool in finding inner peace and is practiced by many people around the world everyday. There are hundreds of articles and videos about how to meditate, people’s experiences meditating and topics alike for anyone who might consider meditating as part of their journey to mindfulness.

Beginning this new chapter might seem like a daunting task, but there are plenty of resources that can give insight and help one find out what practices are most suitable for an individual.