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MINDFULNESS AND mindfulness meditation have become very fashionable in recent years in the popular media and elsewhere. TIME magazine featured it on its front cover in February 2013. The New York Times regularly features articles on the benefits of it. Large American companies such as Nike, General Mills, Target and Aetna encourage their employees to sit and meditate, and provide classes that show them how to. Google also runs in-house courses on mindfulness and encourages its employees to practise mindfulness.
A very recent article in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) publication Monitor even goes so far as to claim that research shows that the practise of mindfulness could improve judicial decision making. Mindfulness meditation has been empirically shown to thicken the brain’s cortex, lower blood pressure, and can help psoriasis. Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, which has a very large mindfulness component, has been shown to be helpful for individuals who have been classified as having Borderline Personality Disorder.
So what is mindfulness and how can people practise mindfulness? Mindfulness is best defined as moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment. In this sense, mindfulness is a state and not a trait so it is not a characteristic that people inherently possess. It can be acquired with practise, unlike a trait which is largely genetically inherited. That’s the good news about mindfulness. Even better good news is that research has shown that regular mindfulness practice has many benefits. According to the APA these include:
Reduced rumination – less replaying of intrusive thoughts
Stress reduction – increases positive mood and decreases anxiety and negative mood
Boosts to working memory – increases the ability to hold information in conscious awareness
Focus – individual become better at suppressing distracting information
Less emotional reactivity – helps people disengage from emotionally upsetting feelings
More cognitive flexibility – develops the skill of self-observation and option choice
Relationship satisfaction – better at responding well to relationship stress and increased skill in communicating one’s emotions to a partner
Mindfulness is a naturally occurring event of everyday life but requires regular practise in order for a state of mindfulness to be maintained in the midst of the distractions of daily life. We are all usually only intermittently mindful; distracting thoughts and emotions impede on mental processes and cause us to lose focus and attention. For instance, people frequently, when watching a film or TV programme, lose track of what is happening on the screen because of distracted thinking and intrusive emotions. Mindfulness practice counteracts this normal human tendency and helps us to better focus our attention and stay mindful of what we want to attend to.
It’s not a ‘relaxation’ exercise
Mindfulness meditation is not a relaxation exercise. Beginning meditators often misunderstand what mindfulness meditation is about. It is about settling into our current experience – whatever that may be – in a relaxed, alert, and open way. It helps us to engage with our difficulties and disentangle from them.
So how does one practise mindfulness? It is a skill that is easily acquired and mindfulness is to mental and emotional well-being as physical exercise is to good health. Physical exercise can be practised in many ways and at ever increasing levels of intensity. So too with the practice of mindfulness. The best way is to explore mindfulness initially is by yourself before attending a mindfulness course, of which there are many available, or get formal individual training in mindfulness techniques. Most people start the practice of mindfulness with ‘guided’ mindfulness meditations.
In typical practice, mindfulness meditation begins with concentration on the breath. When individuals focus on the breath they are focusing on a perceptual event in the present. This is the essence of formal mindfulness practice, guided or not. The mind will constantly wander away from focused attention on the breath and the ‘task’ in mindfulness meditation is to bring attention back to the breath, no matter what distractions occur.
Guided exercises
There are a number of excellent websites devoted to mindfulness practice and the one that I would recommend is that which is maintained by UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Centre (MARC). This website has a number of downloadable guided meditations where the listener is guided through the practice of meditation. It also has regular podcasts available dealing with different aspects of mindfulness which are also very informative and helpful. There is also a very good YouTube video available of Jon Kabat Zinn giving a talk on mindfulness and conducting a guided meditation exercise with Google employees. Kabat Zinn is regarded by many as the ‘father’ of the mindfulness movement in the US and has developed an empirically validated Mindfulness Stress Reduction Programme, which is widely used in psychotherapy.
If you are interested in what mindfulness has to offer then try the guided meditations on the UCLA MARC website and if this stimulates your interest in mindfulness then you can explore it further by attending a mindfulness course or avail of one on one training with a competent professional.
Gerry Fahey is an occupational psychologist and a graduate of TCD and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
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I practice it daily and im reaping the benefits. I would definately recommend it to anyone. You become alot more productive and relaxed I am anyway when I used to be a anxious wreck.
I was recommended mindfulness for Tinnitus.
Sometimes I sit and think, other times I just sit.
It’s simply Buddhism which is a great philosophy – the theology is another matter.
I thought there was no theology in Buddhism because they don’t worship any gods?
There are many gods and demons in Buddhism.
Are you sure you’re not thinking about Hinduism?
Sorry to go on but do a bit of research.
I did and the good old Internet told me that Buddhism is nontheistic, which is exactly what I learned in school. The idea of gods goes against what Buddhism is all about. I know they sort of semi-worship the original Buddha and others who’ve achieved enlightenment, but that’s not the same as having gods? I’m not trying to be difficult I’m genuinely curious.
You’re right but there are levels in Tibetan Buddhism for example (pre enlghtenment states) where you dwell at certain levels, i.e. godlike states of different hierarchies etc.
According to ctrl+f the word ‘mindfulness’ appears 42 times on this page and I can safely say that is largely why I had to stop reading after two paragraphs.
Mindfulness
It seems that your mindfulness of the word mindfulness is strong. It’s interesting that the find function can assist with mindfulness as if it were also a mindfulness practitioner. Mindfulness can be irritating I guess. May the mindfulness be with you.
43 times after your post..
I prefer a pint a Guinness meself.
Nothing can possibly ever go wrong with this approach. Get as many as you can into you Eugene.
My sentiments entirely Winston
It gives a mind emptying quality which is more preferable to me:)
How to drink Guinness mindfully: Pour the Guinness , look how it clears from the top down. Look into the creamy head and wonder. Feel the first gulp as it slips down your throat. Put it back on the table and see how the head clings to the side of the glass. Finish the pint slowly. Notice the effects on your mind and other senses. Maybe have another.
Ah now you’re talking!
All to be done with a window seat in a quiet pub and maybe, just maybe with
a pack of Kings,maybe!
Pains of the past and worries of the future do not exist in the present. Regular practise can transform your life, I’d recommend Jon Kabat Zinn’s book “Full Catastrophe Living” if you wish to learn more about it, although you do not need to read any books to learn the simple exercises. There’s a ton of guided meditations on YouTube, look for “Mindfulness of Breathing” or “Bodyscan Meditation” and you’ll find two simple, yet very effective exercises, try them out, you’ll be surprised at how easily distracted your mind is to begin with, but you’ll become much better at it the more you practise. Formal sittings are great, but you can also practise it informally throughout the day, walking down the street, eating your dinner, at your desk in work (especially effective after a stressful call or meeting). Keep in mind that you’re not actually trying to achieve anything during the practise, you’re simply training your mind in a similar way that you would go to the gym to train your body, but over time you’ll notice the many positive knock on effects that it has on your life.
A friend said i practice it as i was all over the place, best advice i was ever given i feel so different now. There is a book Mindfulness for Dummies its my Bible
Sounds like a load of metaphysical nonsense for the weak minded, on par with homeopathy and astrology.
Homeopathy practices will start to struggle with the onset of the water charges .
Dunno about that Phil. There is evidence for the efficacy of mindfulness and nada for homeopathy. Surely there is nothing particularly extraordinary about suggesting that meditation – the practice of disciplining and exercising the mind for improved focus – can improve focus and mental agility?
That is what it sounds like but it works. Even done badly, like I do it, it has benefits. And it costs nothing so why not give it a try. Then use your own good judgement to decide if it’s nonsense or not. Thoughts come to our minds unbidden. We can obsess over them or worry about them but it’s a good idea to sometimes just observe the process. See them for what they are. Which is nothing really. It was a revelation to me that just because a thought comes to my mind does not mean I have an obligation to entertain it. Of course, as the old joke goes, if the thought is entertaining me that’s a different matter.
It’s not even close to homeopathy or astrology! Plenty of psychological studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of mindfulness, and it has been incorporated into existing types of therapy for this reason. It has a bit of a hippyish name which makes it sound like nonsense though.
This… it really does make you happier to just Iive in the moment as much as possible and just be in the moment and be able to focus. it does need pratice though, you cant think your way into it… thinking as such is the problem.
If you believe it, it’ll work.
But for the anxious people out there, 30 mins meditation to get away from the anxious thoughts feels amazing and can lead to recovery.. Spoken from experience..
Nope. It actually works and it’s free.
Psychologists use it now ,too .. I should know .
Sounds like you didn’t quite read the article. There’s plenty of research that shows the benefits of mindfulness and meditation on the body and mind, but you’ll struggle to find any research that supports homeopathy or astrology.
Philip Hogan you have an obsession with weak mindedness . Perhaps it’s a symptom of weak mindedness to have such an obsession who knows. lol
Aye Catherine I agree; Nietzsche was obsessed with strong-minded and weak-minded people, “supermensch” and the “will to power” and all that. Then what happened him? Show compassion and don’t be condescending to people.
@ Phillip Hogan , what about climastrology ? Lots of oddballs get off on that. Even Enda has started to follow GuruGore.
1 – Mindfulness is in no way money related, you can learn about it for free. I borrowed a book from the library, listened to some talks from mindfulness teachers on YouTube and read about it online. It does not require a course or money changing hands to start practising. Some people charge for the courses they teach, there’s nothing wrong with that and paying money for something doesn’t automatically make it bad.
2 – Its based on Buddhist techniques, but it doesn’t require that you become Buddhist to practice it. Nor does practising it mean that you become Buddhist, the same way that using prayer doesn’t make you a Christian. It isn’t a belief system, there are no deities involved. It is quite simply a tool that can be used in any faith system.
3 – Media that reports on certain things that you don’t care for shouldn’t automatically be ignored. Use your common sense and ignore the things that you don’t agree with and keep an open mind about everything else.
4 – No person should blindly embrace anything. Use your head, do some research, make sure you have all the facts before you make up your mind. Hiding behind your faith to denounce everything new that comes along lacks intelligence.
5 – Meditation will not lead one to “spirits”, “demons” or other similar concepts, and it makes no claim to do these things. Again, it’s not connected to any faith or deity. Any person, with a faith or otherwise, should be wary of something that claims to have spirits or demons involved. Again, use your common sense.
6 – there is no crossover from physical to spiritual involved. Meditation isn’t a spiritual act, it can be but at it’s core it is not spiritual, it’s simply being aware of your own thoughts and presence.
7 – mindfulness does not tell you that you are the solution to your problems. It simply gives you a tool to help you cope with your problems.
Spreading misinformation, the the guise of any belief system, is deplorable. Make sure you know what you’re talking about before offering opinions that have the potential to turn people away from tools that may genuinely help them.
Paddy I don’t really think mindfulness/meditation is a fad….fads don’t tend to last all that long and as far as I know mindfulness/meditation has been around for a pretty long time. I hope you don’t take that as me being sarcastic because I really don’t want to come across like that but I really don’t think it’s a fad just people are becoming more aware of it maybe??
My dad meditates every day and practices mindfulness between tasks. I try to pause and practise between each task but sometimes admittedly I don’t always give it that extra beat it needs. Wish I did though!
So, watching sports would be a good way to start then?
I was made to do mindfulness. Workshop. While suffering from depression. It did nothing. pointless. Sitting there and talking about the now and what today means.
I’m sad to hear you didn’t find it of any use. Mindfulness isn’t supposed to “do” anything, it simply gives you tools to help yourself. It has to be put into practice to be useful.
@Shannon Mc, it did not work simply because you were MADE do it , its like any other form of counselling psychotherapy, if you are MADE do it , you are wasting your time and that of the therapist., the success of any therapy depends entirely upon the full willingness of the client to become fully involved in the process of finding a solution to their issues.
https://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&site=webhp&tbm=isch&source=hp&ei=ugkkVJu4F4qS7AaH54GgCg&q=mindful+mindfulness&oq=mindful+mindfulness&gs_l=mobile-gws-hp.1.0.0i24.7441.18598.0.19839.23.22.1.8.8.0.558.4101.3j12j2j2j1j1.21.0….0…1c.1.54.mobile-gws-hp..2.21.2688.0.JSnKY1mkWJw#facrc=_&imgrc=Edwh3H_1pf_rCM%253A%3BgcASaRUe-uZ9UM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.enthusiasticbuddhist.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2013%252F09%252Fmind-full.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.enthusiasticbuddhist.com%252Fmindful-eating-taste-mindfulness%252F%3B540%3B360
In what way does this advert qualify as “opinion “?
Hipsters.
To me mindfulness is just new-ageism version 1.2.
It is really a form of religion, where one self is the solution to ones own worries. As a catholic I would caution blind acceptance of such cults. The fact that it gains such promotion in modern media, should be enough red flagging for anyone to be on their guard. Buyer beware.
“As a catholic I would caution blind acceptance of such cults”
Christ on a bike do I love irony!
What’s wrong with being a part of the solution to your own worries? What part of Catholicism says that trying to help yourself is a bad thing? And what part of the church’s teachings tells you that anything promoted by modern media should be red flagged? None of what you’re saying makes sense, you seem to have invented your own idea of what Catholicism is.
Mindfulness is not a religion, it doesn’t involve a set of beliefs that you must follow. All it does is offer you ways to reduce stress and increase focus, by spending time being in the present moment and learning to meditate. It’s also not telling you that you are the solution to your own worries, it simply gives you a way of managing them.
There is plenty of research behind it that separates it from New Age type beliefs. Then again, I’m not sure that’s the kind of thing you’d pay attention to.
John Everyman, your reply to scullier has cracked me up and dynamited me out of my blissful mindfulness; now ill have to join some cult to do my thinking for me!
@ Daphne
Well Daphne, you extrapolate a lot from the little I said.
There are some issues to note:
1) This is money related, in most/all instances. You pay to do training, or companies pay for persons to give talks.
2)The methods used are based on, or similar to, Buddhists techniques.
As for your other comments, when did I suggest anyone should not be part of the solution to their own problems? Where did I say “that trying to help yourself is a bad thing”? Isn’t prayer for ones difficulties doing just that. Experience teaches me that media, fixated on everything anti-Christian, abortion, euthanasia, redefinition of marriage etc., are unsound and unreliable. So when “mindfulness”, or is that “mindlessness”, is their new panacea, then watch out.
When meditation is central to any fad, its worth been cautious. Meditation is of course central to many faith systems including Christianity, and a good rule for Christians meditating is be sure it is Christ centred. Meditation could lead you to other spirits otherwise.
Put in stark Christian terms, to believe ones self is the solution to ones problems, is to believe you don’t need god. Mind tricks maketh not a god of you. I just advise caution, as this fad has all the hallmarks of new ageism.
@Paddy , what sort of absolute rubbish are you comming out with.
@Paddy , please define “meditation”, or just give a simple interpretation of it as you see it yourself.
@ RJ.Fallon
RJ the core of what I’ve said, and repeated several times, is that caution is required. It is certainly not clear if mindfulness extends into the transcendent in some or in all cases. Do you suggest that such a new fad should be blindly embraced, without the exercise of caution?
Meditation is difficult to define, as it means different things in different faiths. It spams from just being quite, to using a mantra (either a prayer or spirit), to an internal contemplation of Christ. Many of the physical techniques used are certainly healthy, but having a human guide about whom we know little, could lead us into the other faiths or experience of demons; is in my view reckless. It is the crossover from just physical to spiritual is the potential trap.
1 – Mindfulness is in no way money related, you can learn about it for free. I borrowed a book from the library, listened to some talks from mindfulness teachers on YouTube and read about it online. It does not require a course or money changing hands to start practising. Some people charge for the courses they teach, there’s nothing wrong with that and paying money for something doesn’t automatically make it bad.
2 – Its based on Buddhist techniques, but it doesn’t require that you become Buddhist to practice it. Nor does practising it mean that you become Buddhist, the same way that using prayer doesn’t make you a Christian. It isn’t a belief system, there are no deities involved. It is quite simply a tool that can be used in any faith system.
3 – Media that reports on certain things that you don’t care for shouldn’t automatically be ignored. Use your common sense and ignore the things that you don’t agree with and keep an open mind about everything else.
4 – No person should blindly embrace anything. Use your head, do some research, make sure you have all the facts before you make up your mind. Hiding behind your faith to denounce everything new that comes along lacks intelligence.
5 – Meditation will not lead one to “spirits”, “demons” or other similar concepts, and it makes no claim to do these things. Again, it’s not connected to any faith or deity. Any person, with a faith or otherwise, should be wary of something that claims to have spirits or demons involved. Again, use your common sense.
6 – there is no crossover from physical to spiritual involved. Meditation isn’t a spiritual act, it can be but at it’s core it is not spiritual, it’s simply being aware of your own thoughts and presence.
7 – mindfulness does not tell you that you are the solution to your problems. It simply gives you a tool to help you cope with your problems.
Spreading misinformation, the the guise of any belief system, is deplorable. Make sure you know what you’re talking about before offering opinions that have the potential to turn people away from tools that may genuinely help them.
Buddhist meditation is based on compassion for the self and others. Surely that is in sync with Christian morality. But then morality and dogma don’t always match do they Paddy?
@Daphne , thanks for all that , I’m not going to bother with this fellow any more , lets just you and me agree on what you have said and leave it at that.
I also recommend mindfulness meditation. It is one of the most effective ways of managing stress and anxiety when practiced correctly.
have your say