Mindfulness: What Is It? (Even if you dont know please post so we can help grow the forums accordingly)

[blondguy]

Hi Everybody

This is only the basic dictionary definition...

"Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you're mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment without judgement"

• Please be as blunt you wish....If you dont have an idea about mindfulness it would be great if you could let us know
• If mindfulness hasnt worked/or is too broad a concept for you it would great if you can let us know your thoughts too
• If mindfulness has helped you, please help others to help themselves by posting how you have embraced this mindset

It goes without saying that the forums are a judgement free zone and I really hope that everyone can jump in and have their say

Your input is highly valued no matter how you respond to this topic. There are no experts here...New Posters are Most Welcome!!

My Kindest Thoughts

Paul

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone and thankyou for helping out with your take on 'Mindfulness'

Hey Nurse Jenn...Its a bonus to have your experience/clarity on mindfulness...I understand and appreciate your input yet I find it difficult to suggest 'mindfulness' to anyone experiencing anxiety symptoms where their ability to function on a daily basis is concerned. It doesnt make any sense to me

Hey Moon...Thankyou for helping out....I had to double check on ACT as well...As you have probably read above Tim mentioned 'acceptance commitment therapy'. Tim is spot on as using calm and genuine acceptance of our symptoms does make the anxiety feelings impotent

My therapy involved 'Calm and Genuine Acceptance' of my own anxiety symptoms in the 1980's. Just from my own studies 'Mindfulness' was a new buzzword that evolved in the 1990's

Just a note...Mindfulness wasnt recommended/suggested on the Beyond Blue Covid-19 thread

Hey Tim...thankyou heaps for reminding me about calm & genuine acceptance of our symptoms...Nice1

Hey Jstar49.....Its great to have your input and thankyou!

Hey TomR....thankyou for mentioning 'Mindfulness became a bit of a 'buzz' word a couple of years ago' Just for myself I find the term 'Mindfulness' represents a 'busy' mind. I prefer using calm and genuine acceptance with my own anxiety symptoms...Thankyou for the informative post Tom

Just a quick note for Nurse Jenn and all....my reference is 'Self Help for your Nerves' by Dr Claire Weekes

my kind thoughts.....Paul

[Moonstruck]

Hey BlondGuy.....you are right about the word "mindfulness" becoming a sort of "popular word ," all encompassing (and obviously confusing to a lot of people) when really the action of giving one's attention 100% to a thing, person, happening, scene that is occurring in front of your eyes etc has been available to us forever. And able to be accessed any time, anywhere.

In fact...and I hope you don't find this boring....I was introduced to the J D Salinger books decades ago and absolutely loved them. (he wrote Catcher in the Rye) and other short stories. I remember enjoying reading his descriptions of everyday things that caught the book character's eye....he described it in great details and it was quite lovely.

He made the mundane and ordinary seem beautiful and full of light....I remember some of his descriptions involved looking out a window and watching a little girl playing with her dog on the street below; a girl lying on a couch covered with a blanket...that's all...but J D Salinger described in detail the colours in her hair, where the sunlight fell, how soft the blanket looked, how she had her hand curled under her wrist...every detail.

There are many more...but I see now, he was truly practising "mindfulness" and put it down on paper. I'll bet he hadn't heard of the word either, way back then.......it made beautiful reading.

You see, he "noticed". He didn't just see a girl on a couch, or a kid playing with a dog.......I've had experiences like that and it feels wonderful. Just to watch....and see how beautiful the ordinary can be. Just stop and look!!

So you see, "mindfulness" has been around for many years...they just didn't call it that!!

[quirkywords]

Moon

I agree mindfulness has been around for ages but now it is a business with books, apps, podcasts , seminars and workshops etc .
my parents called it paying attention.
maybe because we try so hard to do so many things at once and have so many distractions on our time and mind.

I like Catcher in the Rye and other writers who notice the details.

[Jstar49]

Hi all,

It seems like the rise in 'mindfulness' and new age stuff has corresponded with the fall in organised religion. Maybe we need to substitute one form of discipline for another...? Or maybe with the restrictions removed we are free to explore other ways of being.

Me personally, I don't see any conflict between loving our creator god and practicing mindfulness, meditation. For me it's paying attention with all my senses, even those we don't really talk about, like our heart sense.

I don't like trends, but every now and again the masses hit upon something worthwhile that the minority has known about for literally ages.

I love how its being applied to wellbeing and mental health. I love how we are now TALKING about mental health wellbeing, instead of just mental illness.

For those with busy minds, or strong feelings of anxiety, etc, I would guess that active forms of meditation would be beneficial. I mean, even going for a run and then when you stop, noticing the breath whooshing in and out of your lungs ( as they heave, in my case!) and paying attention to the physical aspect of one's body, heat, trembling, blood roaring in one's ears......Actually there's an attention excercise for the sense for an anxiety episode, to notice the 5 senses-

what can you hear

what can you smell

what can your hands and feet etc feel touch something to help bring attention back into the body

What can you taste

What can you see/observe

It's so simple, really. But thats often the way with good ideas.

Cheers,

J*

[smallwolf]

Perhaps. 🙂 ... in relation to your statement re organised religion.

And please don't think I am just being negative on commenting on the simplicity of it. Also mindfulness has been around for a long time, just not in the Western world.

My psych suggested I read a book titled "the happiness trap". At the end of the first chapters I listed a number of different strategies. I tried a few of them and they did not work for me. The author also wrote that if some of the ideas suggested did not work then try to the next one. So there is the issue there is no one size fits all. Each person then has to work out what works for them.

Secondly, there is also a need for mindful based exercises which does not involve the 5 senses and rather one that helps me to process negative thoughts. An example from yesterday (literally) - I was in a zoom meeting and had to make some group decision. I spoke against of the options and the others laughed at me. Which plays into my feelings of how I see myself and whether I have anything worthwhile to say. So an exercise like leaves on a stream is good for me in dealing with this. In a few moments (time wise) I can sit with myself imagining myself by a streams, putting thoughts "they laughed at me", "i have nothing to say", "why did i bother", "you're weak", "suck it up" onto leaves, in a way of trying to let them go down the stream.

Yes it can be simple. But can take a while to do it well if we are so attuned to negative thoughts about ourselves.

[quirkywords]

Smallwolf

I think we need many strategies to erase negative thoughts.
I know a person who often says negative things to me which makes me think negative thoughts. IhVe tried the stream but I find dredging up all negative thoughts just emphasises them so now I imagine all the positive thoughts I can say about myself . I think we all need different tools like stream and the senses and many more.

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone! New posters are always welcome too 🙂

Hey Moon....thankyou for the super helpful and clarity in your post above!

Moon mentioned 'J D Salinger books' who wrote 'Catcher in the Rye'...and 'He made the mundane and ordinary seem beautiful and full of light....I remember some of his descriptions involved looking out a window and watching a little girl playing with her dog on the street below; a girl lying on a couch covered with a blanket...that's all...but J D Salinger described in detail the colours in her hair, where the sunlight fell, how soft the blanket looked, how she had her hand curled under her wrist...every detail'

You are spot on here Moon..Mindfulness has been around for a long time after reading your post...Nice1 x

Hey Jstar....thankyou for the super helpful post!

Jstar mentioned ' I love how we are now TALKING about mental health wellbeing, instead of just mental illness' Good point Jstar...Do you find the forums discuss the illness too much over mental health wellbeing? Great to have your experience and support here and across the forums...Thanks J

Hey Tim....always great to have your experience on the forums and thankyou for sharing! You have made an excellent point when you mentioned 'So there is the issue there is no one size fits all. Each person then has to work out what works for them' I think this excellent....IF...the person suffering has a strong desire to find some peace and/or heal

Hey Quirky!...always wonderful to read your posts here and across the forums...I understand your thoughts when you mentioned 'I find dredging up all negative thoughts just emphasizes them so now I imagine all the positive thoughts I can say about myself'

Its only my humble opinion Quirky...I used to think the same way as yourself for many years....until the bell rang and I realized that discussing our 'negative' thoughts was the best cleanser available...(for people that have a strong desire to heal)

my kind thoughts

Paul

[Guest_1643]

Hi Tim - I am big into ACT as well.
Mindfulness took me a while to come round to - I really resonatd with what Jstar49 wrote - and also what Quirky wrote too about monetising Mindfulness. I hate trends and buzzwords, maybe to my own detriment, because this is a pretty good one!
ACT is my everything. It saved my life. I love it.
I also learnt in hospital 2 specific mantras which sum up my negative thoughts about myself/my life/the world around me.
I use those mantras - and use the ACT principles to "diffuse" them - (make them less powerful)

That includes - singing the sentence in an operatic voice, and saying it over and over again for one minute straight. After doing that I feel less attached to that thought.

Re what you said how some don't work for u - I hear that. I think when we find something that does work it gives us energy and motivation to keep searching. Several of the ACT techniques work for me but not all.

Love The Happiness Trap and Russ Harris. I am glad that ACT is gaining in popularity and I personally find it complements and works with what I struggle with as a PTSD sufferer.

[Guest_1643]

Hi quirky - thats interesting that you found the stream not so helpful. Have u tried it ever with a youtube vid talking u through it?
I would imagine even not putting the thoughts on the stream, but just imagining a beautiful stream exactly as u like it - flowing past - could be nice - u could put all your hopes or ideas on it if the negative thoughts are triggering.

[Jstar49]

Hi,

I find this discussion so fascinating, because as you say, Quirky and Sleepy, we are all different, and our unique issues require unique solutions, individual to us. It's useful to hear what works for others, especially cos I'm in the healing/wellness stream, helping others.

Just searched ACT and Russ Harris- looks very good. I'm thinking the 8 week course could be a great Chrissy present for myself.

Also to clarify, the 5 senses exercise was suggested for a panic attack type episode, I think.

Smallwolf I can really relate to your feelings in that meeting. It has always been one of my great difficulties, valueing myself and backing my own thoughts/ideas. Being able to view them objectively and argue for them instead of either putting myself down, or reacting so strongly that I effectively put others down for not listening to me. I have found particularly as a woman that this is difficult. (Not kidding, and not being over sensitive either- it's a fact that men are often viewed as having more authority).

It is certainly a difficult balance to strike.

In an ideal world we would value everyone's opinions and viewpoints equally, however in groups there is dynamics which play out, attributing more power to some, and consequences for 'bucking the trend'. Better decision-making arises from considering a wide variety of viewpoints so it's worth fighting for the chance to be heard.

Cheers everyone,

J*