Mindfulness
Not Just A Hipster-esque Catch-Word
In recent times, “mindfulness” has become one of those words that often causes grimaces, and surreptitious searches for the nearest exit. There are certain people you just don’t want to be trapped with in a lift. Think “evangelists” of all types — vegetarians/vegans, animal activists, evangelicals, atheists, minimalists, bitcoin enthusiasts, and mindfulness practitioners.
Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with those people or their practices … per se. Some of them are wonderful. (it’s me … not them?)
Seriously though. Much of what these, and other enthusiastic people have to say is true, helpful, and excellent. We could, and should learn a lot from them. The world might be a better place if we listened.
If only they’d be less “forceful”, judgemental, aggressive, dismissive, unidimensional …
(really though, some of my best friends are …)
Okay, hopefully I haven’t alienated too many people with my peculiar brand of humour. For those of you still reading, my aim is to talk about mindfulness without being too off-putting. After my previous remarks, I’m sure you’ll let me know if I fail. Please do.
A couple of things prompted me to write this article now.
Firstly. Over the past four decades, I’ve had some experience with mindfulness, meditation, and the like. Mindfulness is something I stumbled upon almost accidentally, and only quite recently, put a name to it.
More recently, I’ve just finished a 4-week course on “Mindfulness for Well-being and Peak Performance”, and am about to start another 4–week course on “Maintaining a Mindful Life”. (free, online courses via FutureLearn — highly recommended)
No, you’re quite right, that doesn’t make me an expert. However, I would like to share a bit of what I’ve learned so far, because I’ve found it helpful.
Secondly, a reader highlighted a couple of passages in one of the articles I published last year, in ART+marketing. (thanks Kabi Wachira) Naturally, I had to reread my article. Then, I decided this was the ideal opportunity to develop that earlier theme.
(Please give it a read — it really does lead rather neatly into what I’m saying here)
So, what is mindfulness, really?
Mindfulness is as simple to define, as it is challenging to do.
Mindfulness is “being fully engaged in the present moment”.
We’ve all experienced times when we are so immersed in what we’re doing, that we stop noticing the passage of time.
I still remember “moments” spent with my first girlfriend, in the flush of young love. We’d kiss … and … an hour later, we’d rejoin the “real world”, and wonder where the time had gone.
Remember when you were a child, and hours of playtime vanished in the blink of an eye. (But, an hour in church, gave a foretaste of eternity.)
If you’re an artist of any kind, you’ve undoubtedly been so focused on your work, that the world just vanishes.
The same can happen with anything that completely captures our attention. Hobbies, sport, work, a book, or a movie can all draw us into periods of mindfulness. Anything that captures all our attention, is being done mindfully.
That is mindfulness.
Mindful “moments”, such as those I’ve mentioned, are :
- Relaxing — even if though we’re probably working really hard
- Enjoyable — even if we’re working on something difficult, or challenging
- Energising — even if we’re tired afterwards
- Satisfying — because we know we gave it our all
That’s the thing.
This is why people get excited about mindfulness.
This is why there are university departments that study and teach mindfulness.
That is why I’m writing this article.
Mindfulness is a natural part of being human. We’ve all experienced it.
Unfortunately, most of the time, we allow ourselves to be distracted and unmindful — absent-minded. Most of the time we function in “default mode”. Most of the time, we just bumble along, habitually doing what we must. Most of the time, we aren’t fully engaged with, and aware of what we’re doing, thinking, feeling, or experiencing.
Absent-Minded Life
As I mentioned earlier, the opposite of mindfulness is absent-mindedness. When I am not being consciously mindful — when my mind is not fully on the task at hand — then my mind is elsewhere. I am being absent-minded.
If I am absent-minded, then I’m not fully experiencing the present moment. If I’m eating absent-mindedly, I’m not really getting full value from the flavours, colours, textures, and smells of my food. If I’m distracted by my phone while watching a movie, I’m not getting the full experience. What about when I’m supposedly spending time with my wife or daughter, and my mind is at least partially absent due to phone messages, worries, work, etc.?
I know that “quality time” has become a bit of a cliche, but that doesn’t mean there’s no truth in it. Quite the contrary.
But, isn’t “quality time” exactly what we mean by being “mindful”? When we are mindful of the moment, and give it our full attention, then we are creating quality time.
(I wrote this piece on Quality v Quantity Time, last year. Give it a read for some background to my thinking.)
If mindfulness equates to “quality time”, and quality time equates to greater creativity, better productivity, lower stress, and greater satisfaction … then how can we increase our mindfulness?
The answer is simple, but once again, not necessarily easy. We need to change some of our bad habits.
Public Enemy of Mindfulness #1 — Multitasking
Yes, I’m sure you’ll recognise the truth in this amusing meme. This is a fairly accurate picture of most our minds, most of the time. This is my mind, and your mind, when we are not being mindful. This is your mind, and my mind when we are trying to multitask.
Most of us, particularly writers researching an article, have experienced an Internet browser with too many tabs open.
We all know exactly what that leads to. Nothing pretty, nothing constructive, nothing creative.
You’re researching and writing like mad. You’re in the zone. Then, your PC begins to slow down. Some things just stop. You type, but nothing happens … until minutes later when the words begin to eerily, and jerkily appear on the screen. Errors abound. Frustration, stress, and confusion increase exponentially.
On top of that, you can’t remember which tab contained that vital piece of information you’d eventually tracked down. You click feverishly through the tabs that still respond. You accidentally close at least one. But, which one?
And then, there’s that music. You mute your entire computer — but it makes no difference. The music continues — just slower.
Eventually, you give up, and close your browser. It doesn’t help — so, you try to reboot your PC. That won’t work either. So eventually, you pull the power lead, forcing a shut-down. Unfortunately, you forgot to set your browser to save your tabs for the next session — so they’re gone.
Yes, you could scrabble through your browsing history in the hopes of finding your pearl of great price, but …
By then, you’re stressed, frustrated, angry with yourself and your piece of &%$#*@%$!, stupid computer. Your concentration is shattered, and you’ve completely lost the flow.
The point is this. Neither PCs, nor humans can multitask. Attempting to multitask, always negatively impacts the system.
What looks like computer multitasking, is actually a form of uni-tasking known as task-switching. Computers are very good at task-switching. They can switch between tasks so quickly, that it looks like they’re multitasking.
Multitasking is the problem — not the solution.
Just like computers, humans are not multitasking-enabled. Humans are “built” for uni-tasking. The closest we can come to multitasking, is what is known as “complex uni-tasking”. However, even that requires a lot of practice before we’re any good at it, and always remains a delicate balance. An example of complex uni-tasking is driving a car.
When you started learning to drive, you had to focus on each separate task individually. Steering, gear-changes, acceleration, braking, etc., were all very individual tasks. After months, or even years of practice, those individual tasks meld together to became a single, complex task.
This is possible because those “individual tasks”, together make up a single, complex task — driving.
The same applies to complex uni-tasks such as playing a piano, guitar, or drum set.
That is what is known as complex uni-tasking.
Here’s the thing though. Try to add another task to your driving (already a complex uni-task), like talking on a phone, texting, reading a map, or shouting at a child, and you’re back to trying to multitask. Attempting to add any other tasks to complex uni-tasking is, quite simply, a disaster waiting to happen. We see the truth of this every day in traffic fatalities, and “lesser” “accidents”.
Multitasking, or rather, attempting to multitask, is probably the biggest and most persistent barrier to mindfulness. This is true if we are consciously trying to multitask. It is also true if our attention less-consciously wanders while we are doing something. The result is the same. Our attention is divided. We are, to some extent, absent-minded. To some extent — we don’t know what we are doing.
Becoming More Mindful
I’m actually finding this surprisingly difficult to write. Not because I’m battling for content, or words, but because there is just so much to say. I feel like I’m not even really scratching the surface of the little that I know. That’s why I’ve really just focused on the mindfulness problem of multitasking. I’m not saying it’s the only thing that stops us from being mindful. However, it’s a big one, and can often, even be found among the roots of other barriers to mindfulness.
So, given that mindfulness is something that we all do anyhow, how can we become more mindful? Given that we have all, at some point, experienced the benefits and joys of mindfulness — how can we become more mindful?
How can we experience a life with less negative stress, more satisfaction, more creativity and productivity, stronger relationships, and greater enjoyment?
Well, I’ll warn you up front. It takes work — work and time.
Our bad, unmindful, absent-minded habits were not built in a day, but over the course of a lifetime. Fortunately, you won’t have to wait a lifetime to experience the benefits of mindful practice, but don’t expect it to be like flipping a switch.
That said, here are some exercises that you can do to begin the process right away.
Eating Mindfully
Eating is a central aspect of our lives. We eat to survive, we eat for emotional reasons, we eat for flavour, and we eat to be social. If we can begin to be mindful about food, then we’ve made a big start on mindfulness in the rest of life.
Instead of eating in front of the TV, as so many of us do, concentrate on the food you’re eating. You can do this with a snack or a meal. Just stop everything else, and only eat. Switch off your phone if necessary. Turn off the TV, and put down your book.
- Focus first on what your food looks like. Appreciate the colours, shapes, visual textures, etc. Use your sense of sight. Many top chefs say that we eat with our eyes before we eat with our mouths.
- If your food can be handheld, pick it up, and take note of how it feels. Use your sense of touch. Notice the cool smoothness of the skin of an apple, or the slightly rough, crisp texture of a doughnut.
- Bring the food near your nose, and appreciate its aroma. Use your sense of smell. Breathe in through your mouth and nose simultaneously for full benefit. Take note of how your stomach is preparing for what you’re seeing, touching, and smelling.
- Use your sense of taste. Take a bite, or place a small amount of the food in your mouth. Hold it there for a moment without chewing. Take note of subtle textures and flavours. Then chew very well, moving the food around your mouth, bringing it into contact with all the taste-bud areas on your tongue.
Carefully and lightly, breathe in again through your mouth and nose to appreciate the full bouquet of flavours and aromas. (be careful not to breath any food)
Then when you’re ready, swallow, taking time to “follow” the food all the way down, noticing any feelings or sensations. - Rinse and repeat.
Obviously, eating every mouthful of all our food in this manner would take too much time, and make socialising awkward, at best. In other words, don’t get silly with this. However, regular repetition of this exercise will increase your mindfulness whenever, and wherever you’re eating.
Some side-benefits of eating mindfully, are that you will enjoy your food more. You will be satisfied, and satiated with less. You will begin to choose things that you really enjoy, rather than just “shovelling in fuel”. You might even lose a bit of weight.
Mindfulness Meditation
Earlier this year, I wrote an article on meditation. Ironically, I didn’t specifically mention or deal with mindfulness meditation in that article. Even so, you may want to read it for some background.
Mindfulness meditation, like mindfulness in general, is simultaneously simple and challenging.
Mindfulness meditation differs from what most people think of as meditation. In talking to people over many years, I’ve found that most people think of meditation as an emptying of the mind; a separation from life and activity. For many types of meditation, this is true.
Mindfulness is being strongly aware of your body, surroundings, thoughts, actions, etc. Mindfulness meditation is really just the practise of focusing on one thing at a time. What you focus on, is up to you. For instance, the mindful eating exercise that I outlined above can be practised as a meditation.
Here are a few important pointers, and then I’ll finish off with a couple of meditation exercise suggestions.
- Mindful practise is non-accusatory. When your mind wanders in the middle of a meditation or other exercise, be gentle with yourself.
- Think of it as training a puppy. A puppy’s undisciplined nature is to wander and explore. This is also true of your mind.
The best way to train the puppy to stay where you want him is with patience, kind words, and gently taking him back to where you want him. Do the same thing for your mind when it wanders. Gently and lovingly bring it back to where you want it.
Shouting, anger, threats, and punishment will only confuse, stress, and make the puppy — or your mind — want to run away from the source of stress. - Don’t be judgemental of yourself. Make your mindfulness meditations and practises a place where your mind wants to go.
Two Mindful Meditations
The Comma
The Comma is a short, one-minute meditation that can be done at intervals throughout the day. It serves as a brief reminder of mindfulness, and a pause (comma) in the busyness of the day. Set a one-minute timer on your watch or phone if necessary.
- Wherever you are, sitting down if possible.
- Close your eyes.
- Sit comfortably upright, with your feet flat on the floor, allowing your body to balance itself as much as possible.
- Relax, but be alert.
- Breathe. Just be aware of your breath.
- Be aware of your thoughts, but don’t dwell on them.
- Gently keep your attention on your breathing.
- When your timer sounds — that’s it — you’re done till the next time you choose to practise this mini-mindfulness-meditation.
The Body Scan
The Body Scan meditation is a 5-minute mediation. Once again, set a timer on your watch or phone if needed.
- This is best done sitting down
- Close your eyes.
- Sit comfortably upright, with your feet flat on the floor, allowing your body to balance itself as much as possible.
- Relax, but be alert.
- Breathe. Just be aware of your breath.
- Start with focusing on your feet. How do they feel? What do your socks, sandals, shoes — or the floor, feel like against your feet? Are they warm or cold — comfortable or not? Spend a few moments focusing on your feet.
- Then, do the same for your legs — working your way up. Then do the same for your behind, your belly, chest, back, hands, arms, neck, face, and head.
- Focus on all the sensations available to that particular part of your body — and only that part of your body. There is no right or wrong — just awareness.
- If your attention wanders, just gently bring it back to where you want it. (train the puppy)
- If you get to your neck (for example) and find it has tensed up, don’t worry — just take note of that, and then let go of any tension.
- Remember, mindfulness meditation is not so much about relaxing as about being conscious of what is happening.
- When your timer sounds — that’s it — you’re done till the next time you choose to practise this mindfulness-meditation.
Well, I hope you find that as helpful as I have been finding it. My main reason for doing these online mindfulness courses was that I needed more theory and structure to my mindfulness practise. Although I’d somehow, through luck and practise, landed up as more mindful than some — I had no foundation.
I’d strongly recommend heading over to FutureLearn, and finding out more about their free mindfulness courses. What I’ve offered here, is merely the slightest taste. (no, I don’t get any kick- backs or other benefit from FutureLearn)
As usual, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
(I’ll keep asking till you all take me up on this — be warned. 😃)
Wishing you all a mindful life ahead.
