Mindfulness practice, in formal sitting and in daily life, is about being free of clinging to and pushing away ideas of self, and dwelling in the larger consciousness of the witness, the observer.
It takes a simple re-orientation of the mind to do that. Without that re-orientation, we fall back on old habits, unconsciously, and are controlled by the cycle of thought, emotion / body sensations, more thought, and action based on those often erroneous phenomena, i.e. our karma.
But when we re-orient our minds in this simple way, we are freed from all that, and our natural, pure awareness is revealed and allowed to experience life, make better decisions, and take constructive, and more naturally-flowing actions.
That simple re-orientation is this: we observe thoughts, emotions, and feelings that come up, just as we observe other phenomena that appear, such as sounds, tastes, smells, and the actions that we do.
Establishing and re-establishing this orientation allows us to see these thoughts, emotions, and feelings clearly, not clinging to them or pushing them away, but letting them fade away as they invariably will; and not allowing them to take control of us unconsciously.
With this awareness, we can follow mental prompts that we see as correct into action, and actions happen in a smooth flow.
Insights into thought patterns that may be non-constructive happen, often showing us how they are a product of past experiences.
Often, thoughts which previously would have disturbed us now are seen as a bit silly, and we see the humor in that.
Establishing and re-establishing this orientation daily will result in this awareness and freedom becoming our way of life - wide, pure awareness, and freedom from the erroneous clinging to an idea of “self”!