My Learning Notes
Home Index Posts Categories Tags About
My Learning Notes

Contents

Mindfulness

 included in Happiness
   2105 words   10 minutes 

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness means awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.

Paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment means focusing on what we are feeling in the present moment with our senses.

Non judgmentally means letting go all the thoughts that may arise when we focus in the present moment.

What is mindfulness for? What are the main effects of mindfulness?

Mindfulness is mainly used to reduce the negative effects of our thoughts.

Negative thoughts cause stress and anxiety.

Therefore mindfulness can be used to reduce stress and anxiety.

Mindfulness is also found useful to:

  • increase focus for longer time
  • reduce worries related to past experiences or future worries.
  • better regulate our emotions.

Is mindfulness effectiveness supported by evidences?

There are various evidences about the effectiveness of mindfulness to reduce stress and anxiety. There are also some evidences that mindfulness has other beneficial effects. However further researches are necessary to validate these conclusions. The main protocols of intervention based on mindfulness are:

  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
  • Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behaviour (MBCT)
  • Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT)

Also if these protocols are intended for people with diagnosed disorders, they can help also other people that suffer. In fact all the people suffer. The difference with a diagnosed disorder is the level of suffering and the fact that this suffering has been diagnosed.

There are researches and articles that state that mindfulness does not work. The main reasons are:

Argument Considerations
mindfulness based interventions are not better than other forms of cognitive and behavioural therapy However also these researches report at least moderate effectiveness to reduce anxiety and depressive mood. Moreover do not be better than other technique that are effective does not mean that it is not effective.
For some people with high level of anxiety or depression, mindfulness in general could worse the anxiety and depression levels. In these cases it is suggested to focusing on a particular activity and not on the inner thoughts There are various type of mindfulness practices and some of them require to focus on a particular activity and the feeling we sense doing this activity. Sometimes I also find more useful to focusing on activities and the related feelings instead only on the breathing or the thoughts.
Mindfulness does not work if we focus on avoiding thoughts. It works if we accept thoughts and feelings, avoiding to suppress them. This is what mindfulness indeed requires. Do not suppress thoughts when they arise, but accept them and simply and kindly move your thoughts to what your are feeling with your sensing. There are two main ways to deal with thoughts:
  • adaptive that consist in accepting our thoughts and then moving the focus on something else
  • maladaptive that consist in ruminating or suppressing.
The difference between suppressing and accepting your thoughts is that suppressing is like I don’t want to have this thought, while accepting is like I’m having this thought. It is OK to have this thought and then focusing on a body sensation or another activity.
Some people believe that mindfulness does not work because they started to practice mindfulness, but they do not see any immediate changes. To be beneficial, mindfulness takes time just like physical exercises and many other activities. We can not think to do physical exercises for a few days and pretend to be in shape immediately. The same is for mindfulness.
There is no structural brain changes after a 8-week MBSR program compared to other type of interventions. Also the author says that this does not mean that the mindfulness is not effective because:
  • It may need more than 8 week to see brain structural changes.
  • The change in the brain can happen in regions different from the ones studied by this research.
  • The effects of mindfulness on emotion regulations or stress reduction can depend not on brain structure change but on how the brain function.
For some people mindfulness does not work because they have high expectation and if they do not see these expectation satisfied in the short term, then they typically stop to do mindfulness. One of the principles of awareness is in fact of letting go our usual habits of always having to do things well and all the anxiety that this habit involves.
Some people may experience unpleasant experience when practising mindfulness. This does not mean that mindfulness is not effective, but only that it is necessary to be aware of this possibility and taking adequate measure to reduce the impact of this experiences being aware that it is normal.
There is no better effectiveness than other treatment where is taught to be aware of depression signals and how to disconnect from them. Researches clearly suggest that being aware of negative thoughts and being able to disconnect from them allow to increase well-being. Mindfulness is the ability to being aware of thoughts and emotions and being able to disconnect from them and focusing on the present moment senses. Therefore the key is to learn to:
  • being aware of negative thoughts
  • being aware of negative thoughts
There can be adverse effects Almost everything has adverse effects. So it is correct to be aware that can be adverse effects.
Mindfulness doesn’t work because how many people do you know that do mindfulness and other kind of meditation and are enlighten and free? The scope of mindfulness is not to be enlighten or free but to reduce the impact of negative thoughts.
Mindfulness is not useful because there will be always thoughts that will come back in your mind. Yes, but the scope of mindfulness is the same of above, not to make thoughts disappear.

Does mindfulness work only in a clinical context?

Researches suggest that mindfulness work also in a non clinical context. Further researches are necessary to confirm this statement.

What is the difference between state and trait mindfulness?

State mindfulness is the awareness that you experience during the meditation practice.

Trait mindfulness is the awareness that you experience also during your daily activities also without focusing on the practice to be mindful.

Trait mindfulness can be developed by practising state mindfulness.

How mindfulness works?

It is not clear how mindfulness works yet. There is a theory that suggests that mindfulness leads to a shift in how we react to thoughts. This shift enables 4 mechanisms:

  • self-regulation that means adapting to change being able to continue to functioning well and act towards one’s own goals.
  • values clarification. If we increase objectivity, then we can reflect more clearly on our own true values and act coherently towards them.
  • cognitive, emotional, behavioural flexibility. If we are able to see a situation and our own reaction to it with greater clarity, then we will be able to respond in less conditioned and automatic ways. Therefore we are more flexible to respond to the situation with less reactivity.
  • exposure. Mindfulness helps to reduce the impact of fears and negative emotions. Therefore it enables exposure to new experiences.

This shift in how we react to thoughts increases capacity for objectivity about one’s own internal experience. It is a shift making what was subjective, objective.

Mindfulness strengthen the observing self that is the ability to observe our thoughts, emotions and body sensations without fusing and being defined by them. See also the concept of Cognitive Defusion.

My considerations are:

  • One of the main purpose of mindfulness is to reduce anxiety and stress.
  • One of the main cause of anxiety and stress is the gap between what we want and what we are getting in a particular situation.
  • Some causes of this gap and some possibile solutions to reduce this gap can be:
Cause Solutions
we do not know what we want values clarification
we do not how to get what we want better problem solving, acquire new competences
we have fear to take action towards what we want mainly due to limiting beliefs self-regulation, flexibility, openness, exposure, objectivity can reduce the impact of limiting beliefs and therefore reducing the fear to act
  • Because some of the solutions reported are enabled by mindfulness, mindfulness can help to reduce the gap that cause stress and anxiety.

What are the fundamentals of mindfulness?

Fundamental Why it is important
Do not judge Openness to other points of view. Allow yourself to be more objective.
Be patient Reduce stress
Beginner mind Similar to not judging. Allow yourself to be more curious
Trust Reduce stress
Do not stress yourself Reduce stress
Accept Accepting negative thoughts and using them as they are, possible risks that have to be objectively evaluated in order to define actions that can reduce the risk if necessary
Letting go Letting go in order to reduce the impact of negative thoughts and avoiding to making decisions when the influence of negative thought is stronger and we are less rational

What are some of the mindfulness exercises?

Exercise Consists of
Body scan Focusing on different body parts
Simple Sitting Focusing on your breath
Routined activity Focusing on every actions while you are doing an habit like washing your teeth or similar activities.
Pleasant experience Focusing on the feelings you are experiencing while having a pleasant experience
Sounds & Thoughts Focusing on the sounds you are hearing and then on your thoughts
Mindful Walking Focusing on all the sensations of your body while you are walking
3 minutes breathing space In the first minute focusing on the experience you are living, in the second minute focusing on your breath, in the third minute focusing on all the sensations of your body

How to do mindfulness exercises?

In my opinion the best way to start is following the audio guided exercises. Some good exercises are available in the course De-Mystifying Mindfulness from the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) which is available on Coursera.

Why I think it is important to know mindfulness?

There are strong indications that mindfulness is effective to reduce stress and anxiety.

Every person experiences stress and anxiety to some extent in their life even if only on some occasions.

Therefore I think it is useful to know a useful technique to reduce the stress level in these occasions.

My current Conclusions about Mindfulness

  • The key is to learn to:
    • being aware of our thoughts
    • do not suppress negative thoughts but also do not fuse with them
  • We must not confuse mindfulness with meditation. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware. Meditation is one of the practice that can help to learn to be mindful, not the only one.
  • Mindfulness allows to be less focused on anxious emotions and therefore more open to other points of view. Having a different point of view where focusing our attention allows to decide better than a situation where we are stressed and focused on anxious emotions.

References

Updated on 2024-04-11
Back | Home

Comments