Mindfulness from a skeptics point of view: a how-to and knowing the facts.

[LavenderTea]

Mindfulness. Is it a load of fluff? I thought so at first.

I started a course & at first I thought it was pointless - 6 weekly sessions plus mindfulness meditation 2 x daily... No thanks.

ALAS I'm here to tell you that it can actually be useful & that it's easy to start doing it.

Firstly, I guess it would be good for me to tell you what it is.

To put it simply, mindfulness is about being aware, being present. "Well, duh!" you might say, but there's a little more to it. Let me ask you this – have you ever lay in bed, thinking of something, realizing that you can’t sleep, knowing that you should be sleeping, & then gotten angry at yourself for not sleeping? It happens to everyone. My point is, this is not being mindful. Mindfulness is about being aware of what’s happening for you, physically, emotionally, & mentally, but taking away the judgement, & just accepting. It’s thinking “hey, I’m having a bit of trouble sleeping, my back is slightly sore & uncomfortable… huh” & that’s about it – letting the evaluations go. Easier said than done LT… I get it.
There are two main types of mindfulness; i) formal practice, ii) informal practice.

Formal practice is mindful meditation. Generally you want to start by sitting upright, in a comfortable position with your eyes closed (or open/half open if you’re prone to sneaky nana naps). There are a few ways you can practice mindful meditation:

• Grounding: sitting with your physical state & noticing the sensations within your body – this didn’t work for me because it’s not obvious enough … but it’s okay!
• Focus on breath: feel the breath going in & out of the body, notice where you’re breathing into, but don’t try to control the breath - this one worked better for me, it’s a lot less subtle & gave my mind more to think about.
• Focus on sound: this ones about listening to what’s going on in the environment, big/small noises, your own breathing- pretty much anything. I liked this one too, it took my concentration outside of my body.

Typically what happens is that your mind will start thinking & that’s only natural. Just practice bringing your attention back, without judgement.

Informal practice is more daily living. This includes being more aware of your physical or emotional state (i.e. noticing if you’re hungry or nervous), noticing things in your environment, & just being there, without judging, evaluating, or labeling.

Wanting this to be a space for learning, got lots more info if you guys are interested!

LT.

[smallwolf]

Couple of quick points...

(I have started a Dip. of Counselling course, and will be doing mindfulness as an additional module. Why? Because I have found benefit in practicing it.

1. You need to give it a chance in order for it to work. When reading "The Happiness Trap" there was one section where the author wanted the reader to put the book down and then for the next week do a deep breathing exercise. For that week, I would hourly do that exercise. Dont give up after the 1st attempt. It takes time and practice.

2. I also incorporate prayer beads into mindfulness now with a mantra of some sort. It stops my brain from wandering different places, which for me, those distractions limit the usefulness. By holding something in my hand and meditation of sorts is a great help. And then I can focus on my breath.

3. You mentioned 3 types in your post. Some were OK for you and others not so. We all have different biases as to what works or does not work. So we each need to work out what works for us, individually?

I have an app on my phone from the author of the above mentioned book. I only have the free version. But periodically there are notifications containing mindfulness exercises. Such as noticing 3 sounds, or take a deep breath and notice the air entering your body.

Tim

[Ell43]

I love this post LavenderTea!!!!

I too do the mindfulness training, and I was a HUGE skeptic before hand haha.

I was really surprise by how much I got out of it. I had previously thought that this whole "mindfulness" thingo was just a fad and only involved meditating which was SO not my thing.

I was really pleased to learn about the informal practice of mindfulness, and have actually found that to be the most helpful!! Being present and multi tasking really don't go well together, and it was pointed out to us during the course that mistakes are most often made when we try to complex multi task and this results in us spending more time fixing mistakes, than if we had just focused on one task at a time originally!
That part really resinated with me, and I have been trying hard to just focus on what ever I am doing in the moment and turn down the constant monolog in my mind about all the other things I have to do, because that doesn't help me get them done any faster!!

Eg when I am driving home from uni, just focus on the road, enjoy the music on the radio and the time sitting down. Spending time freaking out about the assignments I have to do when I get home doesn't mean that when I get home they are all finished. It just means that by the time I get home I'm already stressed and frustrated.... and I still have to do them lol. - (I've found thinking like this has really reduced my frustration in traffic too haha)

Thanks for this post LT! I found it really entertaining and relatable!

[Ggrand]

Hello Everyone,

I used to have a hard time with mindfulness. I still do at times of really overwhelming sadness or anxiety but I like to try to be aware of things I am doing and when I’m doing them, focusing my five senses while doing what I’m doing at the time...

My favourite of all my mindfulness practise is just sitting on my veranda and looking at the empty paddack, mountains in the distance, at the same time I’m feeling the warmth of the sun warming up my skin, and listening to the beautiful songs of the birds,, and the scent of the spring air is fresh and crisp mixed with the scent of my nearby lavender plant.... I’m doing all this as well as enjoying a really yummy pot of tea, and I will stay there as long as it takes me to calm down and feel my anxiety settle down...but I must admit that most of the mindfulness that I do out front does usually create some tears falling...

I think that no matter where we are, shopping, we could look around and see what people are wearing, smell the aromas in the shop, or the different perfumes people are wearing, feeling the airconditioning on our skin...listen to the hustle and bustle of people just doing their thing and then why not have a piece of candy or my favourite a piece of chocolate....on the bus, going for a walk, I think that every situation can be open to a mindfulness practice...

I just wanted to put my thoughts down...Tgank you for a great post Lavender Tea....

King and caring thoughts..

Grandy..

[smallwolf]

Grandy,

I can relate to what you are saying with respect to it "not" working in times of sadness. And I alluded to the use of prayer beads in my previous post. I was given a set by a friend and unfortunately one bit broke off. I have a friend who can fix it. Anyway a went back to a Christian supplies store and found one I liked and bought it. What I found out then when using the beads rather than closing my eyes and repeating some mantra, with my new ones found that by looking at the beads instead brought more calmness (for me). You have the great expanses to look at and birds to listen to etc. I think it comes down to working out what works for each individual. Instead of saying that mindfulness doesn't work, which is a broad sweeping statement, but working out what works for each individual. And I'd meditation works for someone like the Dalai Lama there might be something in it?

Tim

[SammyD100]

Great discussion everyone!

I too have been a bit of a sceptic, but having tried a bit of mindfulness I am happy to report that I have been converted!

I downloaded the Smiling Mind app recently and started listening to a mindfulness exercise at night as I lay in bed, ready to fall asleep. As I say, I was sceptical so wasn’t expecting to see any sort of ‘results’, but I do feel that when I do one of the exercises, my sleep is better! I wake up not remembering having woken at all during the night, and I think I tend to fall asleep more quickly. There must be some connection between the deep breaths during the exercise, the feeling of calmness, and ensuring I’m not focussing on thoughts that might provoke any sense of worry.

Another interesting example occurred last week when a group of us from uni were all waiting together to go into an assessment. A few of us commented that our hearts were beating really fast, and that we were feeling a bit nervous / anxious. One of my friends decided she would do a Smiling Mind meditation exercise and take her pulse immediately before, and immediately after. Her pulse dropped from around 110 beats per minute to 65 beats per minute and she reported feeling much more calm and less anxious as a result. When we’re less anxious, we are much more able to think clearly and be in the moment rather than being distracted by the jumble of thoughts that might otherwise be jumping around in our minds. So it’s quite possible she did better on the assessment as a result of being far more relaxed!

I love Grandy’s description of sitting on the verandah, feeling the warmth of the sun warming up my skin. I’m also trying to be more mindful in my day to day life - trying to take those moments more often, just being in the moment, noticing what I can see, hear, feel etc. It only needs to take a couple of minutes but I think helps me feel more grounded and appreciative of the little things that I might otherwise never notice.

I certainly haven’t incorporated mindfulness into my daily life yet, but I can see how helpful it is when I do try to ‘practice’ and to the sceptics out there I say, give it a go! Whatever it might mean to you, or however you might be able to try it – there are some great suggestions in here.

SammyD