Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally, to things as they are.
(Williams, Teasdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn 2007)
Mindful meditation is not a religion or a strange exotic Eastern practice although its roots are firmly in the Buddhist tradition that started some 2,500 years ago in India by Siddhartha Guatama (the Buddha)
The word meditation and medicine come from the same Latin root, so its not surprising that meditation is often thought of as a form of healing especially since it releases the body from the symptoms of stress.