It’s all about being present in the present, says mindfulness expert, Dr Richard Chambers.
Dr Richard Chambers is a Melbourne-based clinical psychologist who uses mindfulness to help countless clients – as well as thousands of online students via futurelearn.com – to become more engaged in the present. Here, he tells us what mindfulness is, why some people struggle with it and how it helped him to navigate his own dark times.
What is mindfulness most definitely not, Richard?
It’s not about getting rid of your thoughts, and it’s not a relaxation technique – though it can lead to relaxation. Nor is it a spiritual practice.
So what is it?
It’s about being fully engaged, present and aware in each moment.
What can it help with?
Historically it was used in medicine for pain management, then it was used more broadly for physical and mental health, and now it’s being used to help stress, anxiety and depression. More recently we’re also seeing it in business to improve productivity and communication and leadership, we’re seeing it in education to improve learning and teaching, and also in sport to improve performance and manage stress.
Is it for people with a problem or is it relevant to those whose life is ticking along nicely?
It’s for everybody. Research out of Harvard a few years ago found that we’re distracted half the time that we’re awake. So anybody can benefit from this – we all have stress in our lives, minds that get distracted and caught up in unhelpful thinking, so anybody can benefit.
You said in a TED talk that the average person today is bombarded with more information in a day than someone in the 15th century would have been in their lifetime. That’s a big claim. We’re constantly connected to the internet and there are so many ideas coming at us that they get overwhelming and confusing. Mindfulness offers a very useful way of staying present
and grounded and also being able to focus on what’s important, rather than getting distracted by every new piece of information.
Is there clinical data that proves it can work? Heaps. There are thousands of studies now, and the evidence that convinces people is around mental health and particularly depression, stress and anxiety. Neuroscience studies show it literally rewires the brain and thickens the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, which are key areas for learning and functioning.
How does it work?
When our attention is in the present moment and we’re focused on what we’re doing, we’re not worrying about the future or dwelling on the past, so we’re not creating stress and depression and anxiety for ourselves. If you want to think about it neurologically, when the mind wanders off, we get caught up in what’s called default mode thinking. There are parts of the brain called the default mode network and they become active – it’s where there’s lots of mental chatter and thinking about ourselves in a very negative way. That triggers a part of the brain called the amygdala which is the fear centre.
The famous ‘fight or flight’ response.
Yes. We release adrenalin and cortisol and we start feeling stress and anxiety. When we practice mindfulness, we’re able to bring our attention into the present by focusing on the senses – disconnecting default mode activation, the amygdala and the stress response. How did you get into it?
I discovered mindfulness nearly 20 years ago to help deal with my anxiety and depression when I was a student. It became a part of my life and really helped to improve my mental health, performance, relationships and it was through my own experience that my intention to use it to help others came about.
Not everyone who tries mindfulness likes it. What’s going wrong?
One of the main issues is an incorrect understanding of what it is. People often think that it is about getting rid of their thoughts; if you’re trying to meditate and get rid of your thoughts, it’s not going to work. So they give up. Or perhaps their habit of being distracted is so strong that when they sit down to meditate it seems too difficult. The best approach is maybe to practice mindfulness informally, because it can be practiced formally through meditation, or it can be done informally by paying attention to everyday activities. That can be a good place to start.
As a master of mindfulness, are you able to stay calm in the most stressful of situations?
I guess I can – for instance, a large part of my job now is presenting in public; I just came back from running a three-hour workshop with some police officers. I’m naturally not a very confident public speaker and in the past I used to get very anxious, but I’m finding these days that I’m much more able to stay present and calm. And if there are moments when I start to feel anxious, then rather than getting caught up in worrying about what I’m going to say or what people are going to think, I bring my attention back to my feet on the ground and my breath and get back to what I’m saying.
Does mindfulness equate to happiness?
The Harvard research found that the people who were paying attention the most, tended to be happiest overall. And most people can probably relate to those moments when they are present and the simplest experiences, like the sun shining on them or the taste of a good meal or a good conversation makes them happy. That’s certainly been my experience; the more present I am, the richer and more fulfilling life tends to be.
Any cautions for those about to give it a go? One of the big paradoxes of mindfulness is that if we’re expecting an outcome, our focus is in the future rather than in the present. So in those moments we’re not practicing mindfulness. What we need to do is let go of any expectations about what’s going to happen – and just actually be in the moment.
Studies show mindfulness rewires the brain and thickens the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, which are key areas for learning and functioning