YES! I think mindfulness can be a bit overused and vague term nowadays in various contexts, but it sounds like what you talk about is being self-aware and, especially, introspective. If that is it, I absolutely relate because I have been that way as far as I can recall. Always spend a lot of time analyzing my experiences and pondering what my thoughts and feelings mean, how I can use them productively. Of course, the focus and clarity this can achieve is on a whole different level in sobriety. For me, finding/keeping a healthy middle ground with the instrospection is very important, because I am prone to overdoing it, even just using it as distraction sometimes from other things that need to get done, and then I procrastinate... And, as you also point out, sometimes it can generate unwanted and not-so-useful anxiety. So I need to know when it's useful and when to just stop some unproductive thoughts.
The thoughts and feelings associated with past drinking experiences - I just made a post this morning about something similar on my most recent thread. I was talking about the AV and the phenomenon of cue reactivity, as behavioral science/psychology calls it. In that context, it would be more thoughts and emotions associated with past drinking memories that can serve as triggers for desiring the drug/behavior, but yours sound more like aversion, not memories that encourage drinking but the opposite. I have a bunch of those as well and actually find them quite helpful because they do create powerful momentary aversive states and help to recall negative consequences and cement my determination to never drink again. Maybe that's what "they" want? If you are on a quest for permanent sobriety, it's not surprising that your mind brings up bad memories, I think it's better than the so-called "euphoric recall", where we remember selectively the good and then don't care about the consequences. Are you worried about those memories popping up? I personally would't unless they become excessive and disruptive.