Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a term that gets thrown around a lot at the moment and which is often hailed as some kind of ‘solve all’ for every kind of problem under the sun. Mindfulness is part self-help technique, part clinical tool. But what precisely is it and how do you define it?

Mindfulness: An Explanation

Boiled down to its essence, mindfulness is the observation of one’s own thoughts and emotions. In other words, it means stepping back and then simply being aware of what you are feeling, thinking and experiencing. This can then in turn be used to help treat a wide range of different psychological problems and to generally improve your psychological health.

The reason for this is that it brings more attention to the way that we handle various, different events and how our thoughts and emotions normally control us. This in turn allows us to anticipate our thoughts, how to deal with them and ultimately prevent them.

For instance, someone who deals with social anxiety will likely have a number of ruminations that contribute to their symptoms. These might include worries that they will ‘make a fool of themselves, they will be laughed at or they will stammer'…

Many of these thoughts are likely to be inaccurate but, it is only by being aware of them that it is possible to manipulate them, to rise above them or to suppress them entirely.

Uses of Mindfulness

When used to combat such conditions as social anxiety, mindfulness can be seen as a clinical tool. Specifically, it is an important part of ‘CBT’ or ‘Cognitive Behavioral Therapy’. This is a psychotherapeutic approach that involves the practice of essentially replacing and reprogramming underlying thoughts, beliefs and ruminations.

At the same time though, mindfulness has also long been a part of other meditative practices. Here, the goal can often be somewhat different. In this case, the objective is to be more aware of the present moment in terms of sensations, sounds and emotions. By practicing this, they can eventually become more ‘present’ in the moment and better able to react to what is going on around them without judgement and without the constant ‘brain chatter’ that so many of us experience.

Mindfulness is a broad tool then to be used in a number of different ways. In almost every scenario though, the true end goal is to be aware of the present moment and to find an inner calm that often eludes us.

To help find ones inner calm, there is handy tool called the ‘body scan’ technique. For those who have not heard of this exercise, it is a great introduction to mindfulness and also a great way to strengthen your mind/body connection.

This exercise is also a fantastic way to see just how much you miss by being too inside your own head and forgetting to be present. Read on to give it a try…

The Body Scan

The idea of the body scan is to help bring your attention to your own body, your surroundings and the simple experience of ‘being’. It will take you out of your own head and show you just how much sensory information is coming in at any time.

To begin then, bring your attention to your breath and focus on it with each breath inward and outward.

Continue this for a few minutes and as you do you might notice your mind starts to drift. Do not punish yourself for this, simply make a note of how your mind is working and then bring it back to your experience.

Eventually, you should start to notice other sensations throughout your body. You may notice the feeling of your buttocks on the floor or chair for instance. Perhaps you can feel the light breeze on your skin. Maybe you can feel a slight tension in the muscles of your back.

Gradually expand your awareness to encompass your entire body and then further to encompass the environment around you. Try and listen for sounds in the distance and be aware of how many sounds you can pick up. Do not engage with them, just be aware of them and be constantly aware of your breathing.

Mindfulness

To extend this to true mindfulness, you are next going to expand your mindfulness even further – this time to encompass your own thoughts so that you are aware of them drifting through your mind like clouds. As with the external sounds earlier, the aim here is not to engage with those thoughts – simply to observe them in a passive manner without assessing or judging them.

If you are interested in trying this exercise but not sure how to go about it yourself, you can find a number of body scan ‘scripts’ online that will talk you through the process.

With thanks to Sean May http://www.scienceofimagery.com

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