Mindfulness

I feel pretty inadequate to write something coherent on such a huge topic. But the point of my blog is to put my impressions into words no matter what level of knowledge or expertise I might have about a particular subject. I became freshly interested in this topic this week when I watched a GoogleTalk titled Mindsight. The information contained in the YouTube video stimulated connections between other approaches to the topic I have experienced through spiritual meditation and some reading about practices in Eastern Religion, especially Buddhism.

What is mindfulness? What does it mean to be mindful? Are there benefits to becoming more mindful? How do we become more mindful?

Fundamentally, mindfulness is the state of being completely present in the moment. Our focus is centered on the immediate experience and we are attuned to the relationships in play. It is the intention to give attention to the present and at the same time be aware of our awareness.

Being mindful involves bringing the present into focus and de-emphasizing the past, future or other distractions that are not part of our primary focus. We give our conscious attention to the present environment with intention. We give our attention to the relationships in the present environment and do not sleepwalk through our experiences.

One of the primary benefits that results from increasing our mindfulness is improved mental health. From a spiritual perspective, we slow down and become aware of the reality in which we find ourselves. We experience a oneness and act from our unified center. We experience a higher degree of control over our emotions and reactions. We have the ability to pause before acting. We eliminate unnecessary distractions and noise in life that increase our stress and drama.

From a scientific perspective, what we are really doing when we increase our ability to be mindful is building the mind muscle. Not the brain, but the mind. The pre-frontal cortex of the brain houses the areas that we most associate with the concept of mind. This area allows us to conceive and experience abstractions such as freedom, morality, creativity, intuition and control of fear. Mindfulness practices strengthen this part of the brain, therefore strengthening the mind in these areas as well as increasing our potential for empathy and compassion.

We become more mindful by following a daily centering practice where we intentionally concentrate on something fundamental, such as our breath. Mindfulness meditation is a style of meditation that has undergone the most scientific study. There are other practices such as Yoga and centering prayer that probably work as well but have not been studied to the extent of mindfulness meditation.

While the practices mentioned above (and others) qualify as pure mindfulness practices, other activities where we concentrate intentionally and intensely and gently deal with distractions by bringing our attention back to the focus of our concentration are also mindful practices. This includes activities such as reading, playing music, writing, producing art. However, it is arguable that there are many more such activities, anything that invites us to be completely in the moment that are also mindfulness experiences. It is possible that these are secondary mindfulness practices that benefit from a more primary mindfulness experience such as meditation.