Mindfulness
One of the newer buzzwords in the psychological literature these days is mindfulness. It’s splashed across news headlines, featured in many psychological journals and is whispered in hushed tones of reverence in the halls of education. It has utility for anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, trauma, addiction, eating disorders, chronic pain and stress reduction, and its research base is on the increase. I tend to be pretty skeptical about the newest, latest and greatest therapy modalities because it’s easy to get sold on a fad with overstated benefits before it has a chance to pass the test of time. From the vantage of hindsight, for instance, we can see pretty clearly that the field of counseling has had it’s weird moments when it has fallen prey to snake-oil salesmen: (primal scream therapy or rebirthing therapy come to mind). That said, If I were a betting man, I would bet that mindfulness is here to stay and will continue to be an asset for those looking to increase their mental wellbeing. It’s a practice that I embrace wholeheartedly both for myself and for many of my clients.
So now that I’ve got your attention, you’re wondering “what is mindfulness?” The creator of one of the first empirically verified mindfulness protocols, John Kabat-Zinn has the following definition of mindfulness: “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” When you bring your attention to one of your 5 senses (smell, taste, sight, sound or feeling) and gently redirect it back to one of these senses when your attention wanders you provide a workout for your brain that builds the ability to resist many of the maladaptive thought patterns associated with diagnosable mental disorders. You strengthen your ability to step outside your thoughts and feelings and to observe them as phenomenon separate from the self rather than get caught up in them. It differs from what most people consider meditation because the goal is not to empty or turn off your mind. You don’t need to sit like Bhudda in a perfectly quiet room (good news for the stay-at-home parents out there). All you need to do is focus your attention on a sensation. You can mindfully eat, you can mindfully walk, you can mindfully listen to music or do chores - it’s a very accessible practice.
When our body sends a signal to our mind in the form of an emotion and we ignore the signal, our body tends to amplify the signal until we pay attention. Unfortunately, with some emotions, like sadness, anxiety, anger or fear, the sensations are perceived as unpleasant or scary and the tendency is to try to suppress the sensation from our awareness. Some people aren’t even aware they’re doing this until they start to reconnect with their bodies and start to experience the fullness of their emotions again. The good news is, mindfully paying attention to these sensations facilitates our ability to digest them. A good metaphor for this is to see the body as an anxious friend that sends 50 text messages when it feels that its first message is ignored (everyone has a friend or family member like that). Mindfulness is like sending a message back to the friend that you heard them and are paying attention. That alone is often all that’s needed to de-escalate your friend’s frantic effort to get your attention.
While mindfulness practices can be self-taught, I have seen many people get discouraged because they get off on the wrong track. Many people worry that their mind wanders too much, or that they’re doing it wrong because they don’t experience a sense of “peace” while they’re doing it. There’s a bit of a paradox to the practice in that the more you have an expectation that it’s going to provide immediate results, the less likely you are to experience them. You’ll be trying to focus on your sensations with your inner narrative going something like “well this isn’t working, I’m still feeling anxious, maybe this isn’t for me” and instead of redirecting your attention to the way your clothing feels on your skin, or the rhythm of your breath, you’ll give up. It’s curative features are akin to those found in physical therapy where-in you need to do it consistently for a while to see the long-term benefits. For this reason, I think it’s best to learn it from someone who’s practiced it for a while or an established protocol that walks you through it step-by-step so you can make sure you’re not getting lost. Once you get established, you can find ways to practice it in the midst of a busy work schedule, or on your commute.
Does this sound like something that would be helpful to you? Feel free to schedule a consultation below if you would like to explore therapy together or talk more about mindfulness.
