About Mindfulness

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the ability we all have to simply notice our moment to moment experience.​

 

An easy way to understand that is to think about the opposite of the term, mindlessness or distracted.

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Distracted means not paying attention. Which could mean not paying attention to what we are doing, what someone is saying or even to what is going on inside our own heads.

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This often happens when we believe we can do things without thinking.   

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When you were learning to drive, you would have focused on every aspect of that task but now you can probably do it without thinking and that means you can hold a conversation or think about something else.  You could say you are doing it on autopilot; it's become second nature.

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The trouble with auto-pilot

The brain is considered to be made up of three evolutionary parts:

1. the old reptilian brain, the basic system which connects to the rest of the body via the brain stem,

2. the limbic brain or system thought to be responsible for our emotional response, and

3. the prefrontal cortex, our logical thinking brain.

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As using the logical-thinking part requires the greatest amount of energy, the brain readily creates and runs "programmes" for activities we often do. 

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Being released from needing to pay close attention to actions, our mind is free to do other things.

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Unfortunately, when left to its own devices our mind usually wanders to things unfinished, regrets, worries and other types of negative thinking, which means we can find ourselves rewinding to the past or forwarding into the future. 

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Either way it’s not being present. Your attention is not on the here and now.

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Benefits of being mindful

Learning how to be mindful means we can not only pay attention to what is going on around us but can also observe our thoughts and sensations inside the body. 

 

This is key as the two are connected. 

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Our thoughts can trigger chemical and hormonal reactions in the body that we might feel such as increased heartbeat, churning or butterflies in the stomach, sweaty hands and such sensations might set off stories in our heads (I am nervous) which can create a self-perpetuating feedback loop.

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By consciously choosing to pay attention to the present moment we can disengage from troubling thoughts that can lower our mood, our ability to concentrate and our ability to achieve something.

 

In time we can learn our habits of mind and what triggers certain responses. We begin to recognise our automatic (re)actions, our negative thinking tracks, our blindspots and our bias.

 

In other words, things that are in the subconscious become conscious which means we can begin to take responsible and proactive action.

 

Over time we find we can respond rather than react to taxing or difficult situations. This means we begin to live at choice, creating the life we desire and becoming the kind of person we want to be.

 

It also helps us to better tune into tension or other sensations in the body. We realise we can check-in with what is going on for us and dial down the stress response before it floods our system and we perhaps feel overwhelmed.

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Research has found that mindfulness practice can increase resilience and enhance well-being.  Not just because we begin to manage how we think, feel and behave but because it changes the structure of the brain in beneficial ways.

 

Regular practice changes the brain's structure for the better. It reduces the size of the amygdala (associated with the stress response) and thickens the pre-frontal cortex (the executive centre responsible for rational and logical thinking) and the hippocampus (associated with memory and learning).

 

RELATED: Learn the mindful SOS technique

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Will mindfulness help me at work?

The ability to pay mindful attention to the here and now together with the associated effects of a regular meditation practice can benefit all aspects of our work and personal lives.

 

Putting mindfulness to work can lead to:

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• Improved relationships and communication

• Increased creativity and collaboration

• Enhanced concentration and focus

• Better stress management

• Reduced emotional exhaustion

• Better ability to cope with change

• Greater self-awareness

 

For mindfulness at work programmes to be successful they must be voluntary, implemented as part of a wider wellbeing strategy and not be thought of as a silver bullet for making employees “go for longer”.

 

That said, there is nothing stopping you from learning outside of work and reaping the benefits whilst there. That’s what I did and it changed my life.

 

READ: 7 reasons to bring mindfulness to work

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What proof is there that mindfulness works?

The benefits of mindfulness have been studied since the late 1970s when Jon Kabat-Zinn started teaching what became known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

 

He first taught those suffering with chronic pain whom the medical profession could do little for but now MBSR is taught to those living with a wide range of physical and mental health conditions.

 

BROWSE: journal papers on the benefits of MBSR

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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was developed by leading scientist-practitioners. It combines cognitive therapy principles with a mindfulness practice.

 

Having recognised that unhelpful thinking plays a role in depressive episodes Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale were researching a means to teach people how to notice and disengage from such thought patterns.  Through a number of research trials  MBCT was found to be as beneficial as taking anti-depressants for those who have had three such episodes. 

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Mindfulness-based therapies are an evidence-based self-management technique approved by the NHS (the UK National Health Service) and endorsed by its National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

 

DISCOVER: the evidence NICE publishes on mindfulness benefits

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How do you become mindful?

Just like getting physically fit, to be mentally fit we need to work at it.

 

Although we may choose to focus our attention on something - the ticking of a clock or the warmth of the sun on our skin - we can be easily distracted by thoughts, other sensations or feelings.

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As mindfulness is about owning your attention, it’s a skill and like any skill you need to train yourself to be able to do it.

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Mindfulness trainers say it is like going to the gym; each time you practice you are creating new pathways in your brain and developing your attention muscle.

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Those who are mindful regularly practice using particular attention training meditation exercises. 

 

This helps in a number of ways:

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• you strengthen your ability to pay attention at will,

• you develop a mindful observational stance,

• you see thoughts as mental events,

• you can notice when you are beginning to feel anxious, stressed or worried and take appropriate action.

 

Just 10 minutes practice a day for 6-8 weeks is thought to be enough to see changes in the brain itself but even after a week or two of regular practice you are likely to notice benefits.

 

READ What’s the point of meditation?

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Ways to learn mindfulness

As interest in mindfulness has grown so too have the ways to learn it. 

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Do it yourself - book

​The only book I recommend is Mindfulness: a guide to finding Peace in a Frantic World.  It is the primary text I refer to in the mindfulness courses I teach.

 

This was written by one of the key researchers of MBCT, Mark Williams of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, UK and Danny Penman. It adapts the original MBCT course into a self-help format for the general population.

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Do a course - clinical setting

​Both MBSR and MBCT are clinically oriented programs typically taught in group sessions and for an 8 week period with home meditation practice of about 30-45 minutes.

 

You could talk to your doctor if you think you would benefit from a mindfulness-based therapy intervention like MBSR or MBCT.

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Do a course - non-clinical setting

​Alternatively, if you are interested in what it might bring to your life generally, you will likely find courses and teachers advertised locally and online. 

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I recommend attending a taster session before you sign up so that you are comfortable with the trainer's teaching style and spend time confirming their qualifications and personal practice.  You can not teach what you don't have.​