The term “mindfulness” has become a part of our everyday vocabulary. What does this word mean? It might connote a mind full of thoughts. In fact, it is almost the opposite.
Mindfulness involves cultivating awareness of our experiences, internal and external, without reacting. We become the observer of life’s happenings. We do not benefit from becoming upset, anxious, or depressed when things do not go our way. So, we simply notice what is happening as though looking down from above.
The Challenge of the Present Moment
Another key element of mindfulness is the focus on the present moment. Our brains are programmed through many thousands of years of evolution to ponder the future – what danger may be lurking? What is the worst thing that may happen? This catastrophizing may have been adaptive 200,000 years ago, as we sat in our caves, keeping a fire going and wondering whether a saber-toothed tiger might be lurking outside our dwelling. If we focused on such danger and prepared ourselves to react quickly, we tended to live longer and have more offspring. The genes and epigenetic factors associated with such wariness therefore propagated through the population over many generations.
Nowadays, though, we are rarely confronted with such physical threats; yet, here we are, with the hard wiring that predisposes us to generate an acute stress response at the slightest provocation. Our adrenal glands are prepped to secrete adrenaline and cortisol when provoked simply by our thoughts. Our blood pressure and blood sugar skyrocket needlessly. Suppose we lack the resilience to quell the acute stress response and bring these hormone levels back down to normal quickly. In that case, they may become chronically elevated, leading to hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
We are also predisposed to ruminating over the past. While it is adaptive to savor wonderful memories and consider the mistakes we have made so that we may learn from them, it is maladaptive to generate negative thoughts and feelings that bring self-blame, guilt, and even depression and anxiety.
Too much focus on the past and future often means creating unpleasant ideations. Our brains are wired with a negativity bias. We tend to remember and be affected by negative experiences and thoughts than by positive ones. Negative things have a greater impact on our state of mind than neutral or positive things. We also tend to be overly judgmental. We explore our environment – including other people, the world, and ourselves – and perceive it as good or bad. Due to our negativity bias, we are more likely to view these elements as negative. In many cases (including my own), we are most harshly judgmental of ourselves. This contributes to depression and anxiety, two of the most prevalent mood disorders in our society.
The Hope of Neuroplasticity
The good news is that our brains have the remarkable quality of neuroplasticity. We can rewire our brains through focused practice. Our brains are capable of reorganizing themselves by forming new neural connections throughout life. They can adapt to environmental changes, learn, and recover from injury to a considerable extent. Neuroplasticity enables us to recover from a stroke by rerouting functions to undamaged areas. It allows us to learn a new language or how to play a new musical instrument, even later in life. Brain cells (neurons) actually change their structure and function in response to internal and external stimuli, including our thoughts themselves.
The more we embrace positive thoughts, the more positive our thoughts become. We can learn to be more positive and less judgmental.
Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a founder of the practice in the United States, coined one definition of mindfulness. He defined mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” It seems intuitively obvious that paying attention to the present moment is essential, so why do we have such difficulty doing so?
Our minds seem programmed to wander – to rapidly go from one thought to another, sometimes seemingly at random. We are easily distracted. We may even value “multitasking,” that is, thinking about and doing several things at once. In reality, we can only have one thought at a time, and jumping from one idea to another is an inefficient process. When we are multitasking, we often fail to accomplish what we intend to achieve to our full capability. When we are not truly focused on one task at a time, we are actually “task-switching.” We end up wasting time rather than saving time. We make more errors. We are less creative. Therefore, we really do need to “pay attention on purpose” to one thing at a time to be as productive as possible.
How can we train our minds to focus on one thought or task at a time, given that we seem to be programmed otherwise? We can embrace a practice to rewire our brains to be more present rather than racing ahead or ruminating over the past. In other words, we benefit from a regular exercise of abiding in the present moment. This requires intention – hence the importance of the “on purpose” part of Dr. Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness.
One version of mindfulness exercise is called the “GAIN” practice. GAIN is an acronym for what the author believes are the four essential domains of happiness: Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment.
Slow, deep, deliberate breathing is a core element of mindfulness practice. When we are stressed, we may go for many hours without taking a deep breath. Our diaphragm and other muscles involved in breathing are tense and contracted, preventing complete expansion of our lungs. As a result, the tiny air sacs in our lungs, called alveoli, tend to collapse, stiffening our lungs and limiting the amount of oxygen we can take in.
Everything to GAIN
When we practice mindfulness, we can start simply by focusing on our breathing. In the GAIN method, we inhale slowly to a count of three, pause to a count of three, and exhale without effort to a count of four. We are paying attention to our breathing, one moment at a time. As our chest and abdomen expand, we feel ourselves relaxing simply through this manner of breathing.
We then begin a self-guided tour of the GAIN elements. We start with the “G” in GAIN as we acknowledge our gratitude for the gifts in our lives – loved ones, friends, pets, and living in a relatively safe environment with a roof over our heads. Even the simplest of things – isn’t it a miracle that we can step into the shower and experience warm water cascading over us?
While continuing to breathe slowly, deeply, and deliberately, we transition to the “A” in GAIN, which stands for acceptance. As the Serenity Prayer teaches us, we must distinguish between what we can change and what we cannot change as we ponder the difficulties in life. We have all experienced the loss of a loved one, illness, fractured relationships, and other painful events. We identify one source of pain or discomfort and imagine opening our chest and heart and bringing this experience into our heart. We hold it there, nourish it, and embrace it as we relax our muscles. We may ask ourselves the question, “Can I live with this pain forever?” Eventually, the answer will be “yes.”
Next come two of the elements in Dr. Kabat-Zinn’s mindfulness definition: intention (“on purpose”) and nonjudgment, the “I” and “N” in GAIN. We continue to breathe intentionally, drawing our attention to our current experience – the pressure of the chair against our bodies, the sound of a car or airplane passing in the distance, and the subtle tingling at the soles of our feet. Our mind may begin to wander after a few seconds – then we gently bring our attention back to the present. Gradually, we will be able to abide in the present moment for a more extended period.
We transition to nonjudgment as we continue to expand our chest and abdomen with each full breath. We may picture a lovely NASA image of the Earth, apparently suspended in space. It is a lovely planet, but the Earth does not possess qualities that are inherently good or bad. It is simply the planet that it is – neither good nor bad. It is only logical that we, too, are neither good nor bad. We are merely human beings. We simply are. We might repeat the phrase, “I simply am the person that I am. I am.”
We next return our full attention to the breath – slow, deep, and deliberate. We then gently open our eyes. We are ready to go out into the world.
A Practice of Patience
There are many versions of mindfulness practice. We are well served by finding the one that fits us best and sticking with it. Daily practice is most productive, as we slowly rewire our brains to pay attention to the present moment, on purpose, nonjudgmentally.
Our brains evolved over many thousands of years to be the way they are, including this “wandering mind” condition. We cannot rewire our brains overnight. Let’s be patient and go easy on ourselves, embracing baby steps toward a happier condition, including the ability to appreciate the present moment. That is what mindfulness is all about.
Greg Hammer, MD, is a recently retired Stanford University School of Medicine Professor and physician, mindfulness expert, and the author of the best-selling, award-winning book, GAIN without Pain: The Happiness Handbook for Health Care Professionals. Dr. Hammer is a health enthusiast and meditator, utilizing a non-duality and mindfulness-based approach, including the GAIN method. Learn more at amindfulteen.com
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