The mindfulness or mindfulness is the intentional effort to be aware in present experience. This skill is becoming more and more popular and more than a new “New Age” fad, it could play an important role in hospitals, schools and in the physical and mental health of the general population..
Mindfulness is selling millions of books and apps, appears in the main magazines and is increasingly used by all kinds of people, from executives of large companies to nurses to athletes and children. In addition to promoting well-being, it helps to overcome, control and motivate ourselves more effectively in threatening situations.
Since the late 1970s there have been more than 1000 publications documenting medical and psychological research on mindfulness, which demonstrates its validity and scope of application..
Its benefits include its ability to improve personal relationships, concentration, performance in school, promote well-being, be more creative and even improve work-life balance..
As defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of modern mindfulness:
"Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; intentionally, in the present moment and without judgment".
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Mindfulness has its origins in ancient meditation practices. Its modern founder is Jon Kabat-Zinn, who founded the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts in the late 1970s.
Since then, some 18,000 people have completed the MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) program, which helps overcome conditions such as chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, psoriasis, depression or sleep disorders..
Something interesting about mindfulness is that until recently it was hardly known and has spread to hospitals around the world.
Kabat Zinn uses the analogy of jogging. In 1960 when he started running, people thought it was something strange. Today there are many people running through parks and streets. The acceptance that mindfulness is having is higher than that of jogging.
In a decade it may be widely accepted and understood as a way of caring for one's state of mind. Just as physical exercise is vital to maintaining physical shape, mindfulness will become a vital way to face a stressful and information-filled life..
First of all, mindfulness consists of paying attention with “intentionality”. Mindfulness requires a conscious direction of our consciousness. Sometimes "mindfulness" and "consciousness" are spoken of as if they were interchangeable terms, although this is not the case..
For example, I may be aware that I am angry, but that does not mean that I am fully aware of that anger. To be fully aware I have to be aware of myself, not only vaguely and as is normally done; I have to experience the sensations of that goat and the reactions.
For example; eat. Being aware that I am eating does not mean that I am eating with full attention. When we are intentionally aware that we are eating, we are mindful of the process of eating. We deliberately become aware of sensations and our responses to those sensations.
If we eat without mindfulness, in theory we are aware of what we are doing although we are probably thinking about many things at the same time and we may also be watching television, reading or talking.
Therefore, only a small part of our attention goes to eating and we will be little aware of the physical sensations and even less of our thoughts and emotions that are given off in this process..
Because we are only vaguely aware of our thoughts, there are no attempts to bring our attention to the process of eating, there is no purpose..
This purpose is a very important part of mindfulness; having the purpose of living our experience, be it the breath, an emotion or something as simple as eating means that we are actively working the mind.
Abandoned, the mind wanders through all kinds of thoughts, including those expressing sadness, revenge, hatred, desire, etc. As we have these kinds of thoughts, we reinforce them and cause us suffering.
Also, most of those thoughts are about the past or about the future and according to the philosophy that accompanies mindfulness, the past does not exist and the future will be a fantasy until it happens. The only moment we experience is the present and it seems that it is the one we try to avoid.
Therefore, mindfulness is about realizing what is happening right now. It does not mean that we cannot think more about the present or the past, but when we do it will be with full attention.
By voluntarily directing our consciousness towards the present moment - and away from the past and future - we create a space of freedom where calm and joy can grow..
Mindfulness is a non-reactive emotional state. It is not judged if an experience is bad or good and if we judge, we realize it and we let it go.
With mindfulness we do not get upset because we experience something we do not want or because we do not experience what we would like. We simply accept what comes up and watch it mindfully. We realize how it arises, how it passes through us and how it ceases to exist.
It does not matter if it is a pleasant or a painful experience; we treat her the same way.
With mindfulness, you are aware that certain experiences are pleasant and others are unpleasant, but on an emotional level, you simply do not react.
An international team, including Mark Williams -a psychologist at the University of Oxford-, have conducted studies on mindfulness as a treatment for recurrent depression. Its results have been so positive that the National Institute of Clinical Excellence in the United States has recommended it as a treatment for it..
Other academics such as Willem Kuyken, a psychologist at the University of Exeter, have wondered if mindfulness could have another treatment in addition to depression and pain. Specifically, what role can it play in schools and adolescents?.
Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness, even in weeks, can have a variety of physical, psychological and social benefits. Some of the most important are:
Here are some key components of mindfulness practice that Kabat-Zinn and others identify:
To develop these skills in daily life, you can try these exercises that are used in the Kabat-Zinn MBSR program:
You focus your attention on your body; from your feet to your head, trying to be aware and accepting any sensation, without controlling or changing those feelings.
It's about slowly using all of your senses, one after the other, to observe a raisin in great detail, from the way it feels in the palm of your hand to the way it tastes on your tongue. This exercise is done to focus on the present and can be done with different meals.
You focus your attention on the movement of your body as you walk. You feel your feet touching the ground, the sensation of your legs, the wind. This exercise is often practiced back and forth on a 10-step trajectory, so it can be practiced almost anywhere.
It is about spreading feelings of compassion, starting with oneself and then towards other people..
And what results has mindfulness given you?
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