Introduction to Mindfulness Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.

Transcription

1 Introduction to Mindfulness Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. Jon Kabat Zinn

2 What is Mindfulness? The Mindfulnesse enables you to build increased resilience to the demands of everyday life improving physical and psychological health, happiness and well- being. Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally. [1] Mindfulness is a way of training the mind. Mindfulness is a way of training the mind to pay attention to each moment in time, in a non-judgmental way. When you bring your attention to your body, to your breath, your thoughts, your feelings and the world around you in the present moment, you will find that your relationship to your experience of life changes fundamentally. 2

3 Mindfulness is secular and of deeply practical benefit to everyone. Mindfulness is rooted in ancient contemplative traditions and has since been adapted for non religious and therapeutic purposes. The entry of mindfulness into the mainstream is largely attributed to the work of John Kabat Zinn who launched the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979.[2] The combined insights gained from meditation practices together with current scientific breakthroughs in understanding into how the brain works show how we can use our mind as a powerful and effective force to bring positive change and promote increased wellbeing and happiness for ourselves and others. The benefits of mindfulness. Mindfulness can be practiced by anyone to help improve build resilience to the demands of everyday life and improve physical and emotional wellbeing. There is a growing body of evidence which shows that mindfulness practice can support the immune system[3] and effectively address the impact of stress,[4] anxiety, depression and chronic pain.[5] It has been shown to improve emotional intelligence, working memory and attention span.[6] The ability to manage stress is critical to our physical health and mental wellbeing. Many chronic diseases have been strongly linked with stress, anxiety and depression. [7] Mindfulness supports body and mind to return to a more relaxed state of balance and increased well being. This can help to deal with many symptoms associated with a wide variety of conditions including: Chronic pain, Low back pain, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid arthritis, Cardiovascular disease, Diabetes, IBS. [8] 3

4 Mindfulness helps to relieve stress. Mindfulness encourages us to be present in the moment with full awareness of whatever it is we are doing. Paying attention in this way we do not fall into unconscious stress reactivity and as a result we experience less stress. Often we react to challenging experiences in life with anxiety and subtle degrees of stress reaction, without being aware of it. When registering any form of threat our body / mind develops a state of high arousal. Our heart rate goes up and our body functions change as we prepare to fight off the danger or run away. This is called the Fight and Flight response. The part of the brain which controls these reactions is the Limbic centre of the mid brain area.[9] The Limbic centre is linked with emotional memory and is also responsible for creating and stimulating the autonomic nervous system. This Fight and Flight centre of our brain accounts for the production of a variety of neuro- chemicals. As we stimulate the limbic centre in response to perceived threat with emotionally charged thoughts, it responds automatically, firing off increased levels of hormones including Oxytocin and Adrenaline. Mindfulness practice weakens this link between the reaction of the Limbic system and the initial perceived threat. We can more easily focus our conscious attention and separate our thoughts from the automatically generated emotions they may have created. This diminishes our instinctive, habitual, emotional Fight and Flight responses and enables us to approach and respond to situations calmly and with more consideration. By learning to pay attention to this very moment now, and to listen to your feelings and sensations as they happen to you, mindfulness gives you the possibility to respond to situations rather than to just reacting without awareness. 4

5 Forming new habits. Whatever you are in your world you have practised it - good, bad, liked, disliked nothing in the world comes without practising. If you have fear, you have practised it; If you have anger you have practised it; If you have potatoes you have planted potatoes; if you have flowers you have planted flowers; - you won t get flowers by continuing to plant potatoes it s as simple as that. John Garrie Roshi [10] It is never too late to change our relationship to life. We can continue throughout our lives to learn and to respond to life events in new ways. Ways that support our health and encourage greater happiness and wellbeing. Our experiences in life, feelings, sensations and thoughts affect changes in the brain and influence how we see and live our life. Up until the 1970s the view was that when we reached adulthood the brain and its functioning was fully formed and remained static. More recent developments in neuroscience reveal profound insights into how our brains work and how neurological functions can shape our experience of life. The adult brain has the ability, called neural plasticity, to form new neural pathways, remaining open to change and therefore adaptable throughout life. [11 5

6 Developing your mindfulness skills. Mindfulness is cultivated through the practice of mindfulness meditation and exercises. A regular daily practice is the most effective way to progress on your mindfulness journey. The more you practice, the more you will develop awareness and the power of your focus and concentration. This does not mean that you have to sit in meditation posture all day. As you develop awareness of what it is to be in the present moment naturally you will begin to extend and integrate what you have felt and learned through your mindful experience, into your everyday life. Being mindful is not a way of opting out of reality. It is an intelligent and balanced approach to the way in which we use our minds in response to the relentless pressures of 21st century living. Learning mindfulness is not always easy. We have a lifetime of unconscious habits that will seek to take us away from being mindful. A strong intention to practice is needed to carry you through the difficult times. Learning mindfulness is similar to wanting to run a marathon. Before your set off on the marathon you first have to get fit. You go to the gym everyday and you set yourself out a training regime. After a few weeks you begin to notice that you are getting fitter and stronger. After a few months you know that you can run longer and easier. As you train you do not only feel fit whilst you are in the gym but you begin to take your fitness out of the gym and into the real world. It is easier to walk up stairs, to run for the bus, to walk in the woods at the weekend. You transition your fitness from the gym, away from the rowing machines and the treadmills and into your life! In a similar way, if every day for 20 to 40 minutes you practice the mindfulness exercises, so the benefit begins to increase and permeate all aspects of your life. As you consistently practice mindfulness, you begin to feel the benefits. The way that your conscious mind perceives the world around you becomes more relaxed and attuned to all that is going on both internally and externally. There are suggested home practices included in the session materials. These can be used to deepen your understanding and to accelerate your mindfulness transformation. As your mindfulness training begins to consistently become more a part of your everyday life, so its power can be of practical use by undertaking simple everyday tasks in a mindful way. By brushing your teeth mindfully, by drinking a cup of tea mindfully, by getting dressed mindfully. In this way, you will begin to slow down and integrate mindfulness into your life in a meaningful way. 6

7 Bringing mindfulness into your daily life. Progressively as your mindfulness practice develops you will gain increased awareness, familiarity and confidence with what it is to be mindful, which will naturally spill over into your everyday life. The practice of mindfulness creates the ability to have a clear overview, non judgmentally of yourself and your experience at any one time. This lays the seeds for developing increased emotional intelligence, the ability to see more clearly your habitual tendencies, thought patterns and consequent emotions. This overview gives you the choice to respond to situations in your daily life rather than to react in an automatic or inappropriate way. 7

8 The principles of mindfulness. A. Non-judging. Allowing the mind to observe all that is happening at the present mo ment within you and around you without being drawn into evaluations and judgements. B. Patience. Having the understanding that some things take time to develop. Some things can be changed and altered with conscious and physical intervention whilst others are better left as they are. The importance is to know the difference between these two situations. Developing patience allows us to be able to discern between the two. C. Beginners mind. Stripping away the layers of judgement that we have built throughout our life to see things anew. As we begin to judge less and become more attuned with the moment, now, so we begin to appreciate what is already in our life. We experience with greater clarity what is already there. This is the beginners D. Trust. Building trust in yourself, in your intuition and your own authority. Listening to the inner clear voice rather than always looking outside of your self for guidance. E. Non-striving. Learning to undertake and do things not for an end purpose but for the joy and experience of just doing them. Aspiration is a positive intuitive notion of what we what to do, but the attachment to expectation and ideas of a fixed outcome limit our experience of the journey and ultimately cause suffering. F. Acceptance. Really seeing things as they are in the present moment. Resisting the impulse to embellish the moment with emotions of fear, anxiety, worry and stress. Being kind to yourself in this very moment for this is truly who you are, accepting things as they are now for that is the truth of the situation. Acceptance doesn t mean that you cannot, or will not change the circumstances you find yourself in. G. Letting go. When evaluation and judgement are the cornerstones of your reality you will tend to hold on to and defend a position of being right. It is a justification of how you perceive, expectand project things to be. Mindfulness meditation brings the realisation that are no rights and wrongs, should or musts, that there are no absolutes in the present moment. With this understanding you can let go of your aversions and your grasping mind and the expectation of fulfilled projections. You can instead begin to appreciate each moment for what it is. [12] 8

9 Emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence is developed through realising the principles of mindfulness in practice. As you practice mindfulness, so your emotional intelligence increases.[13] Awareness of yourself and others. 1. Self acceptance of who you are. 2. Increased self regulation. 3. Increased empathy and compassion for your self and others. 4. Improved social skills. 5. Increased ability to focus. 6. You will be able to truly relax. 7. Have more energy and better health. Emotional awareness is an important part of being healthy and happy and plays a key role in both social and work based success. Journaling and keeping track of your mindfulness progress. When you first begin the eight week course, it is useful to keep a journal. This journal is for you and you alone. It will become a place to share your feelings, ideas, and responses. Spend a few minutes after practicing each day simply jotting down what s in your mind this will not only provide a record but also a space for you to reflect as you increasingly develop and progress on your path to becoming mindful. The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination Albert Einstein 9

10 The Science Of Mindfulness Submerged in intellectual stimulation the brain simply cannot tell the difference from a thought and an actuality. Both will stimulate the unconscious response be it either the fight and flight reaction in order to defend yourself, or one of momentary joy and laughter. If you consider that reading a Sunday paper from cover to cover you will be exposed to as much intellectual (virtual) information as your 15th Century ancestors were in one whole year. And that s just one newspaper. Today we have telephones, tablets, computers, televisions, we go to the cinema, we text and message, we use face book, and are surrounded by news, news, and more news We are inundated with intellectual stimulation. The physiological and functional aspect of our brains are the product of our past evolution not our present experience. The brain functions and reacts as it has done for 1000s of years. It is this strain between what our brain has evolved to do and what it is being asked to do now, which has become the catalyst for much of the stress, anxiety, worry and illness. Information overload and the limbic brain The Triune brain theory developed by Paul Mclean is an efficient model for understanding the eveolutionary history of the brain. The three distinct brains emerged successively in the course of eveolution and now co inhabit the human skull. The Reptilian is the oldest followed by the Limbic and the Neo- cortex being the most recent. The limbic system of the brain and the old reptilian brain, are instrumental in controlling the reactive aspect of the automatic pilot and our subconscious mind. They physiologically react to what is going on around us in an unconscious and automatic fashion. 10

11 The three brains. The Reptilian and the Limbic are the sentinels, the guards to the gates of our physical survival. They watch and remember everything that we encounter and experience, noting down the dangers and the pleasures inherent in every moment. When triggered, the systems alert the whole body to the action needed for the prevailing condition, be it fight and flight where adrenalin and cortisol are pulsating round the body to avert the danger or equally to relax and enjoy. The limbic and old reptilian brains have slowly and progressively developed over a huge period of time. It is thought to be a period of roughly 100 million years. The neo cortex, the intellectual thinking you, is at maximum no more than 100 thousand years old and the modern you, influenced by technology is no more than 150 years old. The brain evolves slowly, and your brain has simply not had enough time to evolve and adapt in order to cope with the new challenges of the excessive conceptual thought. 10,000 years ago an immeasurably small time ago by evolutionary standards- our ancestors were locked in a battle to simply stay alive. The mind was attuned to fighting for physical existence, focused on instinctual reaction and thought based cunning, as we eked out a survival between the woolly mammoth and the sabre toothed tiger. Today our minds are often overloaded with information and we find ourselves searching instead for a moment of mental calm. Our minds are stimulating endocrinal adrenaline release not in relation to physical threat, but as an unconscious thought defence to living under the mental strains of the 21st century. We have created a life where we can not discern between the reality of a threat and the thought of a threat. The body/mind/brain reacts to a thought, as if it were real. The outcome is that we are all increasingly becoming more anxious, fearful, worried, stressed, depressed and tired from just thinking! And the unchecked automatic pilot is part of this scenario. 11

12 Mindfulness in Practice Mindfulness practice helps you to notice your thoughts. When you first start to practice mindfulness you might be surprised at how much internal resistance, dialogue and chatter that you begin to notice. It can be like having a commentator constantly beside you offering opinions and thoughts on how your life is going, what has occurred in the past and what might happen in the future. Every time you practice your mindfulness, be it the body scan, the sitting meditation or mindful movement, you will find that your mind s attention is distracted by these thoughts. Within a fraction of a second your mind will leave the present mindful focus and fly off to a far flung opinion, idea, thought or concept. Mindfulness practice is about being aware that this has happened. Bringing your focus of attention back In practice when you notice that you are no longer focusing your mind on the present moment, on the breath or the body scan and your mind has wandered or has gone to another thought or space. Then with an attitude of gentleness and curiosity, simply bring your focus of attention back to the present moment. Back to the awareness of feelings and sensations in relation to what ever you are experiencing now. There is no need to judge or criticize yourself or to worry. Each time you notice that your mind has wandered simply acknowledge that it has happened and bring your attention back to the now, to the breath, to the sensations you are feeling. Bring it back to the feeling of being in the moment. The wandering mind Imagine that your focus of attention has a fine silk thread attached to it and when you begin to think of other things, it becomes like a kite blown by the winds of thought to wild and vast places away from the now. When you notice this, retrieve your kite by gently drawing 12

13 the thread back in, refocusing your conscious attention into the present, into the now and into the feelings of the breath and the body. Breathe into the physical sensations of the next breath. Feel your lungs filling, your chest expanding, your diaphragm lowering,your tummy slowly pushing out, absorb you mind s attention to focusing on the physical sensations of what it is to breathe, resist the temptation to comment, to judge, to elaborate, to evaluate or to fix just be present with the breath you are taking. Stop right now for the moment and just reflect.this moment, this very moment, whatever you are doing.this IS YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW. This is your experience. All other considerations about your life are thoughts, memories or projections into the future. How you interact with this moment, NOW. How you are in this very moment, this is what really matters.. 13

14 Developing Mindfulness In order for your mindfulness to develop, the core discipline required is that you practice frequently on a regular basis. It is only through actual practice that your mindfulness will develop and grow. Creating a daily rhythm is very helpful and supportive. If possible set aside a regular period of time in your day or evening that is especially for you, a time to just be with yourself with no distractions. The body scan practice enables you to direct your attention in the present moment with awareness and choice. You will learn how to engage or disengage from an experience with flexibility and awareness. This will help you when your mind wanders or you are carried away from your experience. When practicing the body scan, there is no aim to achieve anything particular or to get somewhere certain. It is about learning how to be with and observe your experience, just the way it is. The most powerful aspect of meditation is the act of noticing and witnessing what is occurring in the moment. During the body scan practice, if you feel that it is not working and you cannot feel anything, just notice that and accept it. If you feel bored or frustrated, fall asleep or become distracted by thoughts, just be aware of what is happening, there is no need to judge or try to fix it, in any way. The aim of the body scan exercise is not trying to release tension, or fulfil your idea of deep relaxation. It is just to be present in the moment. The key to all mindfulness practice is not to judge yourself or that which you are witnessing. Not to analyse, compete or elaborate that which is actually happening to you, that which you are feeling or thinking in the moment. If, during the body scan you find that your mind wanders and your focus of conscious attention is far from the part of the body to which you were just focusing on, don t judge yourself, don t say I am no good at this, just notice it and bring back your attention to the breath of the body and then reconnect to that part of the body which you were focusing on. This wandering of the mind is what happens! This is the active mind, this will not happen occasionally. It will not happen a hundred times, it will happen a hundred thousand times!! 14

15 Don t become disheartened, this is how thoughts are. This is how the wandering mind is trained. You need to accept this, refocus the mind, non-judgmentally, on this moment in time and on the part of the body you have chosen, time and again. Creating the new neural pathways Creating the new neural pathways of mindfulness, the new habits of being present in the moment, is exactly this process of being aware, consciously aware of where the mind is focused at any one time. Noticing where your mind is focused and learning to gently refocus it to where you would like it to be, in the present moment. Through mindfulness meditation practice you can train your mind to be more fully open to your experience and to being in the moment with acceptance. Through this, change occurs. As a new perspective opens up, you become increasingly aware of thought patterns and beliefs and see more clearly your reaction to stress and discomfort. You can in this way be able to respond mindfully and be more open, more relaxed and more positive. You will develop the ability to make better conscious decisions, reflecting the full experience of the moment. See each moment as it comes, accept it for what is, and let it go 15

16 References 1. Jon kabat Zinn. Full Catastrophe Living, (1996), Piatkus: London, Davidson, Richard J. PhD; Kabat Zinn, Jon PhD; Schumacher, Jessica MS; Rosenkranz, Melissa BA; Muller, Daniel MD, PhD; Santorelli, Saki F. EdD; Urbanowski, Ferris MA; Harrington, Anne PhD; Bonus, Katherine MA; Sheridan, John F. PhD (July 2003), Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine: July Volume 65 - Issue 4 - p Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Kreitemeyer, Toney, (2006), Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness, Assessment, 13 pp Low, Stanton, Bower, (2008), Effects of acceptance oriented versus evaluation emotional processing on heart rate recovery and habituation, Emotion, 8,pp Gard T, Hölzel BK, Sack AT, Hempel H, Lazar SW, Vaitl D and Ott (2012), Pain attenuation through mindfulness is associated with decreased cognitive control and increased sensory processing in the brain., Cereb Cortex. United States, 11, Vol. 22(11), pp Moore A1, Gruber T, Derose J, Malinowski P (2012), Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control. Front Hum Neurosci. 7. Dr Linda Carlson, ( 2012), Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Physical Conditions: A Narrative Review Evaluating Levels of Evidence.211 Mindfulness based Interventions,( MBIs), papers, studies and trials relating to and for people coping with a wide array of physical diseases and mental conditions. Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. 8. Dr Linda Carlson-Department,(2012),Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Physical Conditions: A Narrative Review Evaluating Levels of Evidence.211 Mindfulness based Interventions,(MBIs), papers, studies and trials relating to and for people coping with a wide array of physical diseases and mental conditions. Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. 9. Dr R Hanson. (2009) The practical neuroscience of happiness, love, and wisdom. Buddha s brain, New Harbinger Publications,Inc. 10 John garrie Roshi. The way is without flaw. (1998), - Sati press 11J Allen M1, Dietz M, Blair KS, van Beek M, Rees G, Vestergaard-Poulsen P, Lutz A, Roepstorff (2012) A. Cognitive-affective neural plasticity following active-controlled mindfulness intervention., Neurosci. JNEUROSCI