My life was changed when I learned mindfulness. Why? Consider this quote by Thich Nhat Hanh:
“Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves. Consider, for example: a magician who cuts his body into many parts and places each part in a different region—hands in the south, arms in the east, legs in the north, and then by some miraculous power lets forth a cry which reassembles whole every part of his body. Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live every minute of life.”
If you have ADHD and/or are prone to anxiety, you recognize the “dispersed mind” referenced above. It’s infuriating, right? So how would you like to learn to compassionately let go of all those thoughts flailing around in your head? Well, mindfulness can help!
Although mindfulness practices have been around for thousands of years, the most accepted definition was posed by Jon Kabat-Zin around the turn of this century: “paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment”. It sounds simple, yet it takes a great deal of practice to have a meaningful impact. While there are a lot of different techniques, they all contain the same principles:
1. Nonjudgment – this refers to observing one’s thoughts and feelings without assigning a value to them such as good, bad, too hard, boring, etc.
2. Patience – Kabat-Zinn says patience is a form of wisdom, ie knowing that things happen in their own time.
3. “Beginner’s mind” – this refers to a quality of humility and clarity, viewing our experiences as though they are new without taking them for granted or adding old schema to the mix.
4. Trust – it is important to honor your feelings and not suppress them or reject them, thus building trust in your intuition and instincts.
5. “Non-striving” – don’t force your mindfulness practice; focus on accepting things as they are. If you can’t sit for five minutes, sit for one minute; eventually you will move towards your goal.
6. Acceptance – not to be confused with resignation, acceptance is the recognition that things are the way they are. We can work to change them, but first we have to accept them.
7. Letting go – this is a lot like acceptance but with the additional aspect of non-attachment (to certain thoughts and feelings); in other words, resisting the temptation to hold onto a certain experience and suppress others.
8. Gratitude – people who think about, talk about, or write about gratitude report lower levels of depression and stress , even without ignoring negative aspects of life.
9. Generosity – when you give of yourself, you demonstrate that you care and want others to benefit from your presence and attention. This enhances interconnectedness and meaning in your life.
So now you can imagine how it would take some work to incorporate all of these principles into your mindfulness practice, let alone into your life! However, they do overlap a bit and you don’t need to be thinking about all of them every time you sit down to meditate. Just keep one in mind to focus on as you begin, and you’ll find that the others kind of creep in over time. There are some great youtube videos, apps, and audio recordings out there. If you don’t like the first recording you pick, there are plenty of others to try. And reward yourself for the effort, celebrate your wins!
This tip was originally published on therapiepsycholoog.com
