What is Mindfulness?
Have you ever had the experience of driving home one day and once you noticed you had arrived remembered nothing about your journey? Have you ever settled in to watch a thrilling movie and noticed that, before you knew it, the entire bag of popcorn was gone? We get so busy in our modern lives that we move through our days mindlessly on “autopilot.” There is so much congestion in our lives that we lose our ability to be present in it. We move through our day often missing the most meaningful moments in life.
Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to and observing what is happening in our lives, without judgment. When you practice mindfulness you are sharpening your focus and training yourself to be present. This practice helps manage your emotions and physical reactions when stressful situations--such as health concerns, interpersonal issues, or environmental factors--are present. Stress affects our physical health, and poor physical health causes more emotional stress. By contrast, when all our systems are working together there is balance, which leads to greater health. Mindfulness allows us to achieve that balance and, thus, a calmer, more peaceful state. Grounding ourselves in such a calmer base allows to make wiser and healthier choices, leading to a more satisfying life.
What’s Involved?
According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, “mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.”
There are many ways in which we can “pay attention on purpose.” It can be as simple as paying attention when we’re brushing our teeth or making dinner. We can practice mindfulness when we’re outside in nature, taking a walk or smelling the ocean air. When we pay attention to even the smallest things we’re allowing the body and the mind to relax and find peace. We can even learn to be mindful during chaotic moments with our children at the end of the day. By being “in the present moment” we develop the ability to step back from an experience while still engaged in it, and respond with wisdom rather than with the more habitual and reflexive knee jerk reactions.
Mindfulness requires practice and commitment. The practice begins with bringing yourself back to the present moment when your mind inevitably wanders. That is the practice, always bringing your awareness back to your breath or to the most basic task at hand. With sustained routine practice your body and mind start to respond when you need them to. For example, you may be stuck in traffic and start to feel the tension rising in your body. You can then practice simply noticing what’s going on within you in that moment perhaps bringing your attention back to your breath, without judgment. Eventually, you may feel your body start to relax a bit, your blood pressure drops, and you might even enjoy the ride.
Another core aspect of mindfulness practice is learning to cultivate compassion for ourselves and for others. Practicing self-compassion allows us to gradually attain balance and harmony, freeing ourselves form the unwelcomed effects of self-judgment, in turn leading to greater control in the choices we make in our lives. Becoming more compassionate towards others also softens us and allows us to act and react with mastery in our relationships and daily life.
What Mindfulness is not…
Contrary to what many believe, mindfulness doesn’t have to be necessarily practiced in the context of a religious affiliation or experience. While its’ foundation is deeply rooted in Buddhism, one doesn’t need to become a Buddhist or establish a religious affiliation in order to practice mindfulness. Some may also confuse mindfulness with other forms of meditation, like transcendental meditation (TM). Although one can practice mindfulness through sit down meditation, which may help bring peace and sharpen awareness, mindfulness can also be practiced throughout ordinary everyday life experiences. Mindfulness can be described simply as “a way of life.” It’s a skill that one learns to bring greater awareness to the mind, body, and spirit, as much of the time as possible.
What are the benefits of Mindfulness?
Attain the ability to slow down, become more aware, and learn to stop automatic and habitual responses that can be problematic and/or unhealthy.
Achieve greater focus and balance at home and work.
Respond more effectively in relationships and complex situations.
Achieve greater clarity to make better/healthier decisions.
Reduce overall stress and anxiety.
Enhance quality of our relationships.
Gain greater self-insight and sharpen intuition.
Improve mood by lessening self-criticism and learning to “let go.”
Promote immunity and trigger other healthy brain changes.
Improve sleep by learning to “quiet the mind” and “letting go.”
Experience a greater sense of control.
Improve our overall health.
Who benefits from Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is for every one of us, young or old, from all walks of life, no matter what the situation or problem, both physical and emotional ones. Mindfulness can be a spiritual experience, but it doesn’t need to be so in order to be meaningful.
More and more we’re hearing about mindfulness practices at work, colleges, health clinics, and other settings. We’re even seeing younger ones being increasingly exposed to mindfulness at their schools. A substantial body of research now shows evidence that mindfulness programs can reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and other behavioral problems.
Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of the Mindful Child (2010), describes, as a parent herself, the potential benefits of mindfulness programs in schools, which can help develop good habits and help make the children more compassionate and happier. There’s even research that suggests that mindfulness meditation may have potential therapeutic benefit as a complimentary treatment strategy for children with autism. As mindfulness boosts our ability to focus and maintain concentration, it may also be effective in managing symptoms of ADD/ADHD in both children and adults.
With younger ones, mindfulness can…
Decrease behavioral problems in school
Be an effective adjunctive intervention for autism
Help kids with ADD/ADHD
Assist kids in managing serious health conditions, like cancer
Enhance a healthy sense of self-identity
Promote compassion for self and others
With older adults, mindfulness can…
Enhance mental functioning and clarity
Provide mental and physical flexibility
Alleviate the burden of chronic pain through acceptance
Buffer depression and uncertainty about the future
Be helpful in coping with age related fatigue and illness
Together with exercise and a healthy diet, help achieve a healthy balance in life
Provide spiritual support to ease the fears andlonelinessthat accompanies older age
Why Mindfulness and Behavioral Medicine?
Behavioral or “mind-body” medicine, which is deeply rooted in ancient Eastern cultures, has been at the core of medical and therapeutic applications for years. The field of behavioral medicine specializes on helping counter the role of psychological factors, like stress, on physical and mental health. A mindfulness practice can help you become more aware of your stress level, and notice what’s going on in the environment that’s triggering your stress. Through developing this greater awareness you can learn how to gradually distance yourself from this stress and bring yourself back to a more balanced state. When we move through our lives in a more mindful state our bodies release tension and the breath becomes the “driver” of our lives.
A mindfulness practice begins with the intention to do so.
Suggestions for further readings in B-Med:
1) Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life, 11th ed. by Jon Kabat-Zinn (2023).
2) The Miracle of Mindfulness: The Classic Guide, by Thich Nhat Hanh (2008)
3) The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive, by Kristin Neff & Christopher Germer (2018).