What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness can be a tricky word to define because it can mean different things to different people at different times. I’m using the word mindfulness as it’s become used in the work of secular, mindfulness practitioners and researchers influenced by the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn initially and followed by many others (Kabat-Zinn, 2013). It is a state of being or mind state that we can strengthen. It’s a human capacity that doesn’t belong to anyone, such as the capacity to be imaginative doesn’t belong to anyone.

Other words for mindfulness might include awareness or consciousness. It is the capacity to be aware of our inner experience (reactions/sensations/emotions/mood/thoughts) in any given moment.

Alongside this, there is another important element:  a capacity to bring friendly curiosity and care to ourselves in whatever is happening within us.

For example, I may be feeling emotionally stretched in a situation and want to shout and explode; this does happen, and sometimes I do!

Having practised mindfulness, I can tune in more quickly to what’s happening in my body, including the physical and mental emotional charge. I’m able to pause, even if only briefly, and make some decisions about what I want to do next, which may be giving myself some space from the situation. I may smile to myself as I see how caught-up I am in the drama of the situation. If I’ve found myself shouting, I become more quickly aware of what’s going on and can take steps to consciously calm myself. I can also apologise more quickly, if needed! I can also forgive myself more quickly, recognising that I’m human! This isn’t an excuse for poor behaviour, however it’s also a recognition that I will make mistakes.

Practising mindfulness, I also see the beauty of life, as well as it’s complications and difficulties. I am kinder to myself, recognise more quickly when I need to bring compassion to myself. This, I hope, also has effects on my relationships with others.

Mindfulness does not make us “perfect robots”. We continue to be feeling, complicated beings. However, with mindfulness practice we start to become aware of patterns of thinking or behaving that keep us stuck and possibly unhappy. We can start to see through the layers of thought and emotion and stop taking them so personally.

Having said that mindfulness doesn’t belong to anyone, it does have a strong connection with Buddhist traditions. Many of the early researchers using mindfulness with people experiencing chronic pain, such as Jon Kabat-Zinn, were influenced by Buddhist traditions. However, you do not need to be Buddhist to explore mindfulness. Equally, mindfulness can be explored by those with any faith or none. Mindfulness is for anyone who is curious about how the mind works, specifically their own mind, and how it supports or hinders well-being.

Do I need to be “mindful” all the time though?

You’ll have maybe noticed that I use the expression “practising mindfulness” a lot. This is because it’s a process as well as a skill. We might decide “to be more mindful”, however simply experimenting with that aim, we will quickly see how easily we forget to be mindful! So, it’s very unlikely we will be mindful all the time. However, through practising mindfulness or training in mindfulness we can choose more often to be mindful, if we wish. And we can notice the differences between a non-mindful state and a mindful state. This state of mind, approach or way of being is something that can be fine-tuned and developed and can support us at any point in our lives.

There is an important note: mindfulness is not a “cure all” and there are times when we may need the support of other mental health or health care services in our journey.

Looking forward to being in touch,

Suzanne

Ref:

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2013). Full catastrophe living: using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Bantam.