What Is Mindfulness?
John Lennon captured the essence of non-mindful living in his song, "Beautiful Boy," when he said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." It is so easy, and so natural, to live on autopilot, in your head, thinking about the past or planning for the future, all the while missing the aliveness of the present moment. Whole lifetimes can go by this way, and they often do. This kind of automatic living reflects a "dis-connect" between mind and body and contributes to over-thinking and intensified stress.
Mindfulness has to do with particular dimensions of attention and attitude that facilitate conscious living. It means paying attention to the present moment in a particular way: on purpose and nonjudgmentally. This kind of attention helps us to be aware of what we are thinking, feeling and doing in the moment. It helps us to be in our life, rather than in our "head," and nurtures greater awareness, clarity, and acceptance of present-moment reality.
DIMENSIONS OF MINDFULNESS
ON PURPOSE: Mindfulness has to do with paying attention on purpose. Are you able to direct your attention with intention? Can you hold your attention on these words, or on any other chosen activity, in a conscious way?
PRESENT time sense: being right here, right now. As you read these lines, is your attention here, right here on this word, or are your thoughts drifting off to some other place and time? Are your awake to this moment? If your attention is right HERE, then you are demonstrating some mindfulness.
ACCEPTANCE: allowing an experience to be, as it is, without evaluating it as good or bad or wishing it could be different. This includes noticing a feeling and allowing it to be there, just as it is. This nonjudgmental quality proves to be difficult for most of us, as we have well-developed faculties for analysis, criticism and judgment. What would it be like to let go of judgment for a while and simply observe? Mindfulness helps us develop conscious awareness of ourselves in the present moment so that we can respond to situations with choice, rather than react automatically.
CAN I DEVELOP MINDFULNESS?
YES! Mindfulness is a universal quality that can be cultivated and anyone, with the intention to do so, can learn to practice and develop mindfulness. Mindfulness is not the same as intelligence, although it certainly is intelligent to be mindful! Mindfulness involves specific attentional and attitudinal skills can be nurtured and developed, and that may, in turn, contribute to increased intelligence. The concept of mindfulness is simple, although its development requires intention and practice.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MINDFULNESS MEDITATION?
Mindfulness Meditation is a way to practice and develop mindfulness. It is, in a sense, the laboratory class for the development of mindfulness.
There has been an explosion of empirical research on the benefits of mindfulness practice. In brief, the following findings have been documented.
PHYSICAL BENEFITS:
Stress hardiness, immune system booster Decrease in blood pressure Decrease in experience of chronic pain Psoriasis alleviation
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL BENEFITS:
Increased ability for attention, concentration
Decreased depression
Decreased anxiety
Emotional regulation
