Mindfulness, the ability to bear witness, is a tremendously powerful and skilful factor of mind. The Buddha called mindfulness the flood-stopper. It stops the floods of greed, hatred and delusion. With mindfulness we give ourselves a choice with regard to following what arises in the mind; keeping that choice available is something you want to go on doing because the mind almost longs to get trapped – and there are plenty of sights, sounds, flavours and ideas that can sweep you away, out of aware responsibility.
And, as we carry a body with us all the time, we can use that as a base for mindfulness; a place where we can stop the floods. We can turn our attention to the body and just refer to the body in the body, as it is – that is – sensations, energies and form, rather than the impressions of beauty or ugliness that information imposes on it. With these impressions the body is always the source of anxiety and agitation… The body is the home base.
Ajahn Sucitto, “What you take home with you” in Seeing the Way, An Anthology of Transcribed Talks and Essays by Monks and Nuns of the Theravada Forest Sangha Tradition
