Terry Bader on What Is Mindfulness?

Can you remember the last time you found yourself dwelling on memories you’d rather forget? How did you react when you realized what your mind was doing? On instinct, many (if not most) people enter the defensive, diverting their stream of consciousness away from thoughts that cause pain and fear. While suppressing our insecurities might make us feel better in the short-term, proponents of “mindfulness” argue that burying our traumas doesn’t eliminate them; rather it plants them firmly within the subconscious, where–if left unaddressed–they germinate like seeds of weeds into depression, anxiety and other serious mental illnesses.

You might’ve read something about “the benefits of a mindfulness-based approach” on social media or in news headlines, whereupon you were left wondering: what is mindfulness, exactly? Mindful Magazine defines mindfulness as “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” The practice has its origins in Buddhist philosophy, and was popularized in the West by professor of medicine Jon Kabat-Zinn. In 1979 Kabat-Zinn instituted training programs for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Some criticise mindfulness techniques for being overly simplistic or commercialized, but their prevalence as treatment for a variety of conditions–from depression, anxiety and chronic pain to OCD, borderline personality disorder and PTSD–is undeniable, according to Gregg Henriques, Ph.D., psychologist and author of Theory of Knowledge. Henriques notes that mindfulness training is also growing in popularity. Programs teaching mindfulness are now offered to athletes, government officials, business leaders, prisoners and students; in fact, in 2012 Tim Ryan, Ohio Congressman and author of A Mindful Nation, was awarded a $1 million grant to run mindfulness classes throughout schools in his area.

Henriques says that all mindfulness strategies are rooted in two core techniques: awareness and acceptance. Being aware means expanding one’s immediate focus to include internal thoughts, processes and sensations. Kabat-Zinn taught awareness by having students eat a raisin; instead of just robotically chewing and swallowing, the key is being cognizant of all its traits–its taste, texture, appearance, and weight–while also observing any thoughts that flow in free association. Realizing, and accepting, that our mind can monitor a multiplicity of thoughts and feelings at once is the basis of mindfulness, Henriques states.

Distress comes when we fail to maintain a mindful state; when we force painful thoughts, truths and memories deep down under a veneer of false positivity. Henriques explains this using what he calls “the unified approach” to cognition. He believes that disharmony comes from a break in the continuum between the conscious mind’s three prevailing states: the public self, private self and experiential self. According to Henriques, negative thoughts breach the borders between our unconscious and conscious minds and enter the domain of the experiential self: active, perceptible experience. From there, they creep further into our internal thought processes (our private self) until disarray begins spilling over into the behaviors we display to others: our public self.

The key, then, is impartially accepting and dealing with negative feelings once they become perceptible, rather than forcing them back into the unconscious. Henriques explains that the Buddhist teachings which inspired mindfulness fully acknowledge that suffering exists, and that trying to suppress mental anguish only amplifies it in the long term. A better idea, Henriques says, is to try to align your mind with the acronym C.A.L.M, which stands for curiosity, acceptance, loving compassion, and motivation.

Originally published at terrybader.com on July 11, 2018.