What is Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a state of awareness in the present.  It is also living in the moment with intentional actions that help to raise our awareness.  Most of us spend our days running through our experiences without fully paying attention to what it is we are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or feeling.  I like to think about mindfulness as the state in which we become more in tune with our senses.  One might even say that mindfulness brings our attention to the texture of our life experiences.  What did that rock in your hand really feel like?  The weight of it in your hand… how heavy was it?  Was it smooth or rough?  Cold or hot?

I might walk the beach and pick up a few rocks, thinking I am paying attention to the intricacies of the individual stones before I toss them back in the water.  However, in truth, I pick them up, look at them for a few seconds, hardly noticing the sounds around me, or the pungent smell in the air, before I throw that stone back in the water trying to see how many skips I can get out of my toss.  All the while thinking I am doing something healthy, mindful and, all …. yogi-like…. mmmm….not quite… but it’s not terrible either!  Mindfulness doesn’t have to be hard but it does require some intention, walking the beach, however, is a great start!

Mindfulness is not Meditation

The terms mindfulness and mediation are sometimes used interchangeably but they are not the same.  I think this is due to, in part the common misunderstanding around mindfulness.  To be mindful means to pay attention, it does not necessarily mean that you are engaging in meditation.  However, if you are meditating then you are paying attention and engaged in your surroundings, you are in a mindful state.

Essentially, mindfulness is a stepping stone towards meditation.   If you have a goal of ultimately incorporating mediation into your life, beginning with mindfulness is an excellent way to begin to build the habits to become more in-tune with what is happening in the here and now.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Needless to say, living a more mindful life can have many benefits.  A few of the mental health benefits include reducing stress (MBSR), increased memory, increased executive functioning skills, satisfaction in relationships as well as improved mood, to name a few.  And some of the many physical health benefits include lowered blood pressure, improved sleep and it is also known to be heart healthy.

Given this above snapshot of the benefits one can gain from mindfulness, it’s no doubt that a variety of disciplines are incorporating MBIs (mindfulness-based interventions) into their practice.  Two well-documented examples are in the field of education as well as in the treatment of substance use disorders. This article will highlight these two areas below.

Treating Substance Use Disorders with Mindfulness

Mindfulness is used to treat substance use disorders, with MBRP, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention,  which can help to support cravings and general discomfort caused by substance use.  Research has proven that when using MBRP, there was a decrease in the association between negative feelings and substance use.  In one study I was looking at, it was discovered that when using MBRP along with standard relapse prevention, there was a 54% lower risk of relapse, which is pretty astounding in the research world.

I have included a short video that gives you a more in-depth overview of mindfulness-based relapse prevention and how it works in the treatment of substance use disorders.

Mindfulness in Schools

The benefits of mindfulness are also reaching our school systems and have been for more than 10 years now.  School Administrators and staff are working tirelessly to incorporate these exercises into their classrooms.  In schools, the benefits abound, ranging from increased mental acuity and focus to improved social-emotional regulation which increases a student’s sense of self and with that, emotional safety.  In my experience, I have seen mindfulness incorporated into the classroom environment in a few different manners.  Some teachers, who of their own volition, simply believing in the benefits of mindfulness and possibly needing to try something different, have incorporated mindfulness into the opening of their classes.  This has, anecdotally proven to establish an above-average rapport with their students and lent itself to a cohesive working classroom environment.

More and more, mindfulness is being incorporated into the classroom via their school’s social-emotional curriculum which is sometimes referred to as social-emotional learning.  Social-Emotional Learning is a multi-layered approach to learning which incorporates social-emotional competencies such as relationship building, empathy, and increasing awareness of self and social situations.  Regardless of whether it is brought into the classroom via a curriculum or by teacher preference, the research says it all, check it out for yourself.  There is a very comprehensive report done by Mindfulschools.org which can be found here. 

How Teachers Can Bring Mindfulness into the Classroom

If there are any teachers out there looking to incorporate mindfulness into their classrooms, I have a great resource to share with you.  It’s called “30 days of Mindfulness in the Classroom”, by Calm.com.  If you aren’t familiar with Calm, they have a popular mediation app that many people find helpful when incorporating mindfulness into their life.

This is a resource that a colleague recently shared with me, just a quick warning, opening this document may or may not send you down that well-known rabbit hole for a bit… but it is worth it…there’s a ton of great material that they are pumping out.

Although a lot of this is geared towards teachers, it could easily be adapted to home life as well.  Especially considering much of the learning kids are doing is at home these days, given the current pandemic.

Why is mindfulness so hard?

You might be asking yourself if it’s so good for us, why aren’t we doing it more?  We know exercise is tough, but we push through it and we do it because we know, to a certain extent, we need to keep our bodies moving, so we suck it up and we get it done.  Mindfulness is a little different, but it is an exercise for your mind, and you aren’t alone if you think it’s (mindfulness) hard.

One reason we may feel this way is because of the misunderstanding around mindfulness and many people might feel intimidated by it.  Generally speaking, most of us are just trying to get through what we have in front of us, the idea of trying something new when the immediate effects are uncertain is not enticing.  This speaks to the feeling that it’s too big and too much work, that maybe they are too disorganized and, ironically, need to have more order in their life, which is silly… this is the way you find order!  Mindfulness offers another perspective, another opportunity to bring some quiet into our busy, fast-paced brains with an intentional effort to slow it down.  I included a short video from a Ted talk below.  Andy describes in his words what mindfulness has been to him…  and If nothing else, (for my American audience) you might enjoy his accent.  🙂

Building Capacity for Mindfulness in Your Life; 2 simple steps

1. Start Slow

As Andy says in the video above, with just 10 minutes a day you can build a practice of mindfulness into your life that will help you create positive change.  Mindfulness helps us by creating a capacity to regulate thoughts and feelings so we can juggle life’s demands without it all falling apart.  However as is always the case, what you put into it, you will get out of it.  The same is true with mindfulness.  Therefore I suggest you start slow and ease into it.

A great place to start is with 1-minute increments.  Try engaging in 1 minute of actively paying attention to what you are seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling.  You don’t need to close your eyes or sit, but you can if you want.  It can be in the middle of your kitchen, (maybe alone to start, doing it with others in the room would be the next step).  And just be in that moment.  I notice that it is often easier to do this when we see something striking, or appealing, beautiful even, a sunrise, snow falling, a bird chirping, the smell of morning dew, your child’s drawing … whatever it is, find it and allow your senses to soak it in… and that my friend is mindfulness.

Once you have mastered one minute, move on to 2 minutes, and so on.  Clearly, there are some other layers of challenge that you can build in there, but go at your own pace and feel it out… there is no right or wrong… it’s what works for you.

2. Identify an Intention for the Day

Another great way to engage in mindfulness is to set an intention for yourself at the start of your day.  It shouldn’t be complicated, maybe practicing kindness, being self-affirming, eating whole foods, practicing patience and so on…  If there is a way to check in with yourself throughout the day that can be helpful, a good practice is to write it down somewhere as a reminder.  For teachers and parents out there, this could be a statement that you share with your kids and students.  It could be a family practice or a theme for the day as well.

This approach can be another way for those who are not quiet comfortable with “active mindfulness” but want to feel it out while maintaining a little distance from the act itself.  Meanwhile, by setting intentions we are more likely to maintain a grounded approach to our day with greater emotional regulation and a sense for the here and now.

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Sometimes, we need a little extra support, in spite of all the self-care and mindfulness we incorporate into our lives.  That’s why I have teamed up with a great network of online support and therapists through Online-Therapy.com.  If you are looking to start therapy, check out On-line Therapy.com, where you will have access to a therapist virtually from anywhere in the world.  You Can get 20% off by clicking on my affiliate link here.