Mindfulness, First Concepts

I’m here to shatter a common myth most people have when I comes to mindfulness training. Mindfulness is often misunderstood as often people picture someone sitting crossed legged, eyes closed, in a silent room…meditating. Although there are lots of great benefits to this type of practice you don’t need to be that formal in your training. It also doesn’t have to have any spirituality associated with it, even cognitive behavioral therapists are seeing the benefits of mindfulness!

You can practice mindfulness as you do chores, as you workout, as you play with your child…

All mindfulness really means is 1) being aware of your thoughts- some people call it observing your internal dialog 2) being fully present and in the moment and 3) being NON-JUDGMENTAL about your observations.

The last one is often the one people have particular trouble with. Humans are often conditioned to think if they did not get the optimal outcome we have failed at our task. Well, that is not how I have been taught at all. Every time we make an effort to practice we be sure to thank ourselves for taking the time to practice. Even if we had the worst session ever, even if we couldn’t control and focus our mind, we don’t judge ourselves, instead we observe and say- well, I was really distracted today. Some places my mind wandered are X, Y and Z. Observe without creating judgement.

The most vital concept: Single point of focus. You can use almost any experience as a time to practice mindfulness. Be fully there in that moment. We rush though life, trying to get from point A to point B without enjoying or even really experiencing the journey because our minds are so focused on the destination. While brushing your teeth, eating a meal or even doing the dishes- just observe the whole experience. For example when brushing your teeth: watch how the toothpaste comes out of the tube onto the brush, feel the temperature of the water, listen to the sound it makes as it falls to the sink, feel the bristles of the brush on your gums….

Let your mind be here, not at work, not about the last facebook post you just read- be just be in THIS moment.

This is a practice and by practicing now, you strengthen your ability to do it in times you really need to focus your mind and you will become so much more aware in general.

Often, when we are anxious we are living in the future, when we are depressed we are living in the past. That is a paraphrased quote by Lao Tzu but I really think it makes a great point. Especially today, when we have so much input, so much distraction, so many comparisons. We see something and it reminds us of something that bothers us or something we have yet to achieve. Our mind gets in a rut, focused on that one negative thing. This concept leads right into another benefit of mindfulness, learning to control rumination. According to Wikipedia, rumination is defined as the “compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of one’s distress, and on its possible causes and consequences, as opposed to its solutions”.

Having now been introduced to these concepts you can now see how mindfulness, particularly observing and learning to better control the flow of your thoughts, can be very useful. When you observe your mind going down a stressful path, stop it, then refocus the mind on something constructive.

Further progression in mindfulness training: There is a threshold we cross when worry becomes more harmful that beneficial. There is a nice training session where we experiment with this concept and learning how to “lean into” the thoughts that are bothering us but this session is paired with a powerful method to get your mind back into a more positive mental space afterwards. I recommend that session be done in person. It is a powerful tool indeed. If you are interested in incorporating either of these practices in your consultation package the first one I call the “Present Moment” training and second one is called the “Lean Into” session.