MINDFULNESS #101

“You cannot be both unhappy and fully present in the Now” – Eckhart Tolle

These days, you can’t talk about psychology or mental health without talking about mindfulness, or its kissing cousins “living in the now” and “being present”. Both mindfulness and meditation have gone mainstream – and I’m a full-fledged fan of all this stuff, despite the populistic hype. (Note: If at this point you’ve zoned out, glazed over and are ready to flip to the recipe page, I won’t take it personally.)

I first came across the concept in Eckhart Tolle’s mega-bestselling The Power of Now and A New Earth, both of which I’ve read numerous times, gleaning more with each reading. Here’s just a bit of it:

Mindfulness is the art of paying intentional and active attention to what’s going on right now. It can last for seconds, minutes or longer. Like any skill, it can be practised and learnt.

Life happens in the present. But all too often we ignore the present and allow life to pass unnoticed and unappreciated while we brood on past events or worry about the future. Much of our unhappiness is caused by dwelling on past events that were embarrassing, sad or hurtful. Much of our stress and worry, on the other hand, comes from focusing on possible future events and situations that are beyond our control.

All we can control is how we act right now. In the words of another of my favourite gurus, Jon Kabat-zinn: “The only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You’re only here now; you’re only alive in this moment.”

You are not your thoughts. That truth becomes clear when you find yourself observing your own thoughts – ideally nonjudgmentally and without criticism.

Mindfulness vs Meditation

Psychotherapist Philip Kolba reminds us that mindfulness and meditation are not at all the same thing. Meditation, which comes to us from various religious and secular traditions, encompasses techniques for training the mind or reaching altered states of consciousness.

Mindfulness he describes as a practice that was adopted by Western psychology from Buddhism. Within Buddhism, it is part of a rich historical tradition; but in the context of psychology it’s been pared down to a technique to improve mental functioning. “Mindfulness is often practised as a type of meditation, but with experience it can be conditioned as a regular habit,” he notes encouragingly.

Benefits of practising mindfulness and other meditative practices include: increased awareness of your mind and body improved cognition, memory and mood less stress, pain and fatigue greater happiness. “I’m not in the business of telling people what to do,” says Philip. “But with all these benefits and no risk, why wouldn’t you practise mindfulness?”

For more inspiration, check out: Wherever You Go, There You Are, by Jon Kabat-zinn, mindful.org and mindfulnet.org.