Mindfulness 

Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be defined as an intrinsic, persistent state of consciousness that can vary between and within individuals. It is characterised by an individual’s attending to, or lack of attention to, their awareness and experience of what is transpiring in the present moment. Viewed as opposing to a state of automatic processing.

The benefits of mindfulness are numerous from stress reduction, to better sleep quality, improved relationships, banishing negativity, improved attention, assistance in achieving weight loss goals, reduced anxiety, a mindfulness practice is believed to promote overall well-being.

Traditions which mindfulness draws upon?

It is widely accepted, mindfulness has its heritage in Eastern-traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. It is wise to note, however, that Taoism, Stoicism and Islamic, Judaic and Christian histories have foundations in mindfulness too. However, it is fair to say that the majority of mindfulness practitioner/teachers are versed in mindfulness from a Buddhist or perhaps Hindu viewpoint/traditions. Hinduism has long been interwoven with mindfulness even the historical interpretation of Hinduism reads as a historical record of mindfulness, with the Vedic meditations and the Bhagavad Gita. Buddhism, likely the primary influence in 'mindfulness', is still indebted to Hinduism. Their primary goal being to forge a path to enlightenment, practicing mindfulness (Sati), being the first step on this path, which makes mindfulness fundamental to Buddhism. Mindfulness practitioners in the West have predominantly had Buddhist influence, which makes Western-mindfulness beholden to Buddhism. Lastly once cannot ignore the link with mindfulness and yoga and how the growth of Western-yoga correlates with the growth of Western-mindfulness. The connection between yoga, mindfulness, Hinduism and Buddhism is inextricably interwoven.

Through training, mindfulness can be developed, thereby cultivating the process of being able to step outside one’s own mental events leading to an objective and non-judging stance towards oneself This process can work in a twofold manner as well as supporting positive mindset, mindfulness in this context can help in the reducing the use of unhealthy coping-strategies.

Formal and informal mindfulness practices

A formal mindfulness practice includes specific instruction and guidance that follows a sequence such as a body scan or counting breath meditations. But one can also have an informal mindfulness practice, this would include things such as mindfulness eating or mindfulness walking or simply becoming more present in our relationships. Mindful tasks in an informal practice would entail being fully present and aware during the task at hand, being aware of all the senses while engaged in the task.

Incorporate mindfulness into your day

An effective and easy way of incorporating mindfulness into our daily routine would be to incorporate mindfulness into our daily activities, such as when taking a shower, cooking or eating, washing dishes or even tooth brushing, mindful walking is also a wonderful way to incorporate into our daily lives.

3-minute breathing space meditation

It helps one to step out of automatic pilot and reconnect with the present moment and experience. It has 3 steps and is in effect shaped like an hourglass It begins with a broader awareness coming into a more focused awareness before broadening out again. Do one minute for each.
1 – Attending to what is, noting your experience without changing what is observed just allowing for an expansive awareness of all
2 – Focussing on breath which in effect narrows the focus of attention
3 – Attending to the body, again widening the attention to any sensations felt in the body as a whole
It calms the mind and body and is effective for cognitive-defusion to help to disperse negative thought patterns that can push one into emotional reactivity. Helping a person to always be able to find a centred place in this world.

Significance of mindfulness of movement exercise in our practice?

By focusing on the sensations and feelings we have in the body it is an effective way of bringing us into the present moment, it is an effective way coming into the here and now for some people that struggle with being still this is perhaps an easier entry into a mindfulness practice. Being more aware in our bodies can help us to navigate life for example staying relaxed in stressful situations or being able to more enjoy times when things all feel good. Our bodies are constantly sending signals to us with information of how we feel, paying close attention to these signals can help not only in interpreting but also in maintaining presence in the world. Our bodies are a constant connection to the present moment. It is also a good way for beginners in a mindfulness practice as it is often easier to be aware of the body than it is to be aware of the mind initially.

Flow-state and its relationship to mindfulness

Flow experiences need attention and mindfulness gives just that focused attention. Flow is when one is fully engaged in doing something to the exclusion of all else. Time perception changes in a flow state and there is a total absorption that goes beyond a point of distraction, totally absorbed where there is almost a fluidity between mind and body and senses become heightened, with an effortless feeling of being at one with what one is doing. It is typical for sports people to experience flow; many artists also experience flow states while working as well as surgeons or chess players but the people that tend to be able to achieve this flow state tend to be self-actualised high performers (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004). Ultimately the mind quietens and a person goes into a non-distracted zone. Mindfulness by definition is this quality of being fully engaged and present, in the moment and free of judgment or distraction. By engaging in mindfulness/meditation we encourage these conditions needed for a flow state. It allows us to notice what may distract us and keeps us coming back to the objective or focus. In essence a flow state can be defined as an active moving meditation. Mindfulness can train the mind to become calmer, clearer, present all elements needed to achieve a flow state.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004). Good business: Leadership, flow, and the making of meaning. Penguin.

‘The Learning State’ and how do we enter it?

Also referred to as ‘Mind Wide Open’ Is essentially to prepare oneself to open up, open awareness. This can be accomplished in a few ways. It is a precursor to an increased state of internal and external peripheral awareness. With the focus being on stillness and one allows cognitive defusion and let’s go of invasive thoughts. One can get into this state by practicing breath awareness in an expansive way through the body and also by extending peripheral visual awareness by looking forward and without moving eyes try to take in more of the visual field in all directions, and even trying to become aware of space all around us even behind. An open awareness with no attachment to the story we label things with leaves a person open to learning and absorbing new experiences.

Research

After a traumatic bereavement, people who engaged in mindfulness-based grief counselling have shown a reduction in depressive symptoms, traumatic stress and anxiety (Thieleman & Cacciatore, 2014). There is a progressively emerging evidence base for the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions in reducing anxiety, stress, rumination, shame-proneness (Proeve, Anton, Kenny, 2018) and general reduction in distress symptoms (de Abreu Costa, de Oliveira, Tatton-Ramos, Manfro, & Salum, 2019). Research has also found that mindfulness brings an increase of self-compassion (Kuyken et al., 2010; Proeve, Anton, Kenny, 2018; Lee & Bang, 2010; Rimes & Wingrove, 2011), and can assist people with adjustment disorders (Nissen et al., 2019; Sundquist, Palmér, Memon, Wang, Johansson, & Sundquist, 2019). It has also been found to decrease emotional instability, PTSD and suicidal/self-harm behaviour (Hofmann et al. 2010; Ivanovski and Malhi 2007). Mindfulness is recognised as a successful emotion regulation strategy (Tomlinson, Yousaf, Vittersø, & Jones, 2018).and is linked to a reduction in neural activity in response to negative affective stimuli (Egan, Hill, & Foti, 2018; Hazlett-Stevens, 2017), showing an association with adaptive emotional outcomes (Pearson, Lawless, Brown, & Bravo, 2015), coping techniques for stress (Weinstein, Brown, & Ryan, 2009).

References

Garland, E. L., Hanley, A., Farb, N. A., & Froeliger, B. (2015). State mindfulness during meditation predicts enhanced cognitive reappraisal. Mindfulness, 6(2), 234-242.
de Abreu Costa, M., de Oliveira, G. S. D. A., Tatton-Ramos, T., Manfro, G. G., & Salum, G. A. (2019). Anxiety and stress-related disorders and mindfulness-based interventions: a systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis and meta-regression of multiple outcomes. Mindfulness, 10(6), 996-1005.
Egan, R. P., Hill, K. E., & Foti, D. (2018). Differential effects of state and trait mindfulness on the late positive potential. Emotion, 18(8), 1128.
Hazlett-Stevens, H. (2017). Dispositional Mindfulness and Neural Correlates of Affect Regulation. Archives of Neuroscience, 4(3).
Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010). The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 78(2), 169.
Ivanovski, B., & Malhi, G. S. (2007). The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of mindfulness forms of meditation. Acta neuropsychiatrica, 19(2), 76-91.
Kuyken, W., Warren, F. C., Taylor, R. S., Whalley, B., Crane, C., Bondolfi, G., ... & Segal, Z. (2016). Efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in prevention of depressive relapse: an individual patient data meta-analysis from randomized trials. JAMA psychiatry, 73(6), 565-574.
Lee, W. K., & Bang, H. J. (2010). The effects of mindfulness-based group intervention on the mental health of middle-aged Korean women in community. Stress and Health: Journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress, 26, 341–348. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi. 1303
Nissen, E., O'Connor, M., Kaldo, V., Højris, I., Borre, M., Zachariae, R., & Mehlsen, M. (2019). Internet‐delivered mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for anxiety and depression in cancer survivors: A randomized controlled trial. Psycho-Oncology. doi: 10.1002/pon.5237.
Pearson, M. R., Lawless, A. K., Brown, D. B., & Bravo, A. J. (2015). Mindfulness and emotional outcomes: Identifying subgroups of college students using latent profile analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 33-38.
Proeve, M., Anton, R., & Kenny, M. (2018). Effects of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy on shame, self‐compassion and psychological distress in anxious and depressed patients: A pilot study. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 91(4), 434-449.
Rimes, K. A., & Wingrove, J. (2011). Pilot study of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for trainee clinical psychologists. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 39(2), 235-241.
Sundquist, J., Palmér, K., Memon, A. A., Wang, X., Johansson, L. M., & Sundquist, K. (2019). Long‐term improvements after mindfulness‐based group therapy of depression, anxiety and stress and adjustment disorders: A randomized controlled trial. Early intervention in psychiatry, 13(4), 943-952.
Thieleman, K., & Cacciatore, J. (2014). Witness to suffering: Mindfulness and compassion fatigue among traumatic bereavement volunteers and professionals. Social Work, 59(1), 34-41.
Tomlinson, E. R., Yousaf, O., Vittersø, A. D., & Jones, L. (2018). Dispositional mindfulness and psychological health: a systematic review. Mindfulness, 9(1), 23-43.
Weinstein, N., Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). A multi-method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(3), 374-385.