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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: Resilience

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From time to time a word or phrase may become the focal point of attention and discussion in our culture. It seems to go in cycles as new, fresh descriptors are brought into popular use. One of the new words being discussed in terms of human performance and health and wellness is “resilience”. Resilience is defined by Wikipedia as: “Psychological resilience is an individual’s tendency to cope with stress and adversity.[1] This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or simply not showing negative effects.[2] A third, l conception of resilience is sometimes referred to as ‘post traumatic growth’ or ‘steeling effects’ wherein the experience of adversity leads to better functioning (much like an inoculation gives one the capacity to cope well with future exposure to disease). Resilience is most commonly understood as a process, and not a trait of an individual.[3]

Recently there has also been evidence that resilience can indicate a capacity to resist a sharp decline in other harm even though a person temporarily appears to get worse.[4][5] A child, for example, may do poorly during critical life transitions (like entering junior high) but experience problems that are less severe than would be expected given the many risks the child faces”.

What is the basic relationship of mindfulness to resilience? There are numerous published studies that go in great length to describe this connection. Since I tend to look for first principles and common denominators I will briefly describe what I believe to be the keys to the connection of mindfulness and resilience.

When we get stuck in the stress cycle we literally freeze up on all levels because of the implicit fear that is experienced as a result of reacting to the survival impulse. The fear takes us out of the present moment as a coping mechanism. This often results in lengthy periods of chronic stress and we don’t return until a conscious effort to return is made. That conscious effort to return to the present moment is called mindfulness. Fear is necessary to help us survive in the short run, but sustained fear over a long period simply perpetuates the frozen experience that comes with flight or flight. Our bodies, minds and emotions lock up, we lose flexibility and resilience and our normal state of flow is interrupted. The key is to know that our normal state is in fact one of flexibility and resilience and that we don’t need to learn it, we simply need to remove the impediments that have blocked the natural way of being. All of life is in a state of flux/change at all times and to resist that because of fear creates all the problems that we attribute to chronic stress. Remove the chronic stress/fear, allow yourself to experience the natural changing nature of life and we return back to our normal state of resilience and flow.

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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: Compassion

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Mindfulness and compassion have been historically linked for a long time. Wikipedia defines compassion as: “Compassion is the feeling of empathy for others. Compassion is the emotion that we feel in response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.[1][2]Compassion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it, though when based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence, it may be considered rational in nature and its application understood as an activity based on sound judgment. There is also an aspect of compassion which regards a quantitative dimension, such that individual’s compassion is often given a property of “depth,” “vigour,” or “passion.” The etymology of “compassion” is Latin, meaning “co-suffering.” More involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another’s suffering.

For fun, let’s take a look at the “chicken or egg” relationship between mindfulness and compassion. There are those who would say that mindfulness gives rise to compassion and those who would say the reverse. To make this discussion even more fun I will take the side of the egg as being first. There are many reasons for this but in an effort to keep this blog simple I will say that the shape of an egg is more primal and from a cosmological/mathematical/quantum standpoint would be easier to spring from the “nothingness of black space” than a chicken.

From here I will jump to my conclusion in order to stay true to simplicity. My experience has been that compassion can gradually lead to mindfulness, but that mindfulness always leads to compassion. The key ingredient is actually mentioned in the Wikipedia definition, “interdependence”. My experience with mindfulness has been that the deeper I go into the present moment, the more obvious it is that everything is interconnected and interdependent to the point of the realization of the feeling of oneness with all. It’s easy to see how the flow of everything is moving together. As that realization/feeling matures and unfolds it becomes natural to have compassion with/for everyone, everything and of course, oneself. Now that we have had our fun, we can freely admit that the answer to this question of what came first really doesn’t matter…..as the chicken and the egg discovered long ago!

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Many Uses of Mindfulness: Addictions

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For the Love of Money. It talks about a Wall Street broker who through a series of epiphanies came to the conclusion that he was addicted to money. It got me thinking about whether there is a common denominator for all addictions.

Over my life I have felt the pull of various things that could fall into the category of addictions if left to their devices and in the many classes I have taught in mindfulness I have had plenty of people who have talked of their various addictions and the benefits that mindfulness practice has had in relation to their addictions. It seems to me that if you have an addictive personality then that addictive personality will choose from the many opportunities to express itself. Probably the most common addictions that we hear of through the media are the many kinds of drugs whether they be stimulative or depressive. Many times the two go hand in hand as a way of balancing the extremes. Drugs come in many forms and don’t have to be limited to prescribed and non prescribed substances. We all know of food addictions, behavioral addictions such as sex, extreme sports/risk taking etc. The list goes on and on.

Where does the addiction begin? It has become common knowledge that there is an epidemic of people getting stuck in fight or flight for extended periods of time if not years. The autonomic nervous system gets stuck in the sympathetic mode or high gear. One of the many ramifications of this phenomena is a steady flow of adrenaline and the other stress hormones. Another common acknowledgment is that people begin to crave the adrenaline high after awhile. I think we need to look seriously at this being a root cause of addictions. From here the domino effect kicks in and that adrenaline craving begins to express itself in many ways. I recently read that this can be passed on genetically. The well known disconnection that takes place as a result of chronic fight or flight perpetuates this condition. The well known effect of mindfulness practice being able to reverse this disconnect is also acknowledged. Perhaps we have found an important key for reversing addictions. There is much to discuss here and many dots to connect.

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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: Food/Eating

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Food/Eating has always been central to the human experience because of it’s obvious relationship to survival. Today, food/eating plays a much larger role and in fact has become not just a science but an art as well. In becoming such a focal point in our culture it gives us an opportunity to not only enjoy it in all it’s diversity but to suffer with it as well. Like all things in life, whether we enjoy or suffer through our experiences is highly influenced by our relationship to them.

In the practice of mindfulness the main theme is our relationship to the present moment via our connection to our bodies, minds, breath and emotions. Because stress plays such a large role in our lives, and since stress is dictated by our relationship to our experiences, it makes perfect sense that the practice of mindfulness which brings balance into our lives could play a pivotal role in how we experience food and eating.

The big issue with stress is coping by disconnecting from ourselves and the present moment and getting stuck in the stress cycle for extended periods of time(think years). That fight or flight experience has one major function….survival. If we are stuck in survival mode then our relationship to everything will be through the lens of survival/fear including our relationship to food/eating. We will magnify it’s importance as a strategy for survival and grasp onto it for all we are worth. We’ll grasp onto it and won’t be able to get enough of it to ease our fears of survival because the root cause of being stuck in fight or flight hasn’t been addressed. It will also result in other forms of food/eating dysfunction.

Mindfulness directly address this root cause by allowing us to reconnect, come out of fight or flight and put the stress cycle and fear of survival behind us. At this point we are free to see food as it really is….something that nourishes us and sustains life. As we reconnect to our bodies and our dulled senses become enlivened, we are also in for the treat of being able to experience food/eating in a deeper more enjoyable way. If we pay attention mindfully to our food/eating our bodies will tell us what we need to know about about quantity, quality and how to enjoy.

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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: In The Schools for Academic Excellence

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In the late 1990’s I developed and delivered a way to use mindfulness as an integral part of the educational/academic system. The name of the program was: Mindfulness Training for Elementary School Students: The Attention Academy. It was published by The Journal of Applied School Psychology, Vol. 21(1) 2005. Since my study was published there has been a world wide movement to bring mindfulness into the schools and this movement is expanding exponentially.

It had long been a theory of mine that the practice of mindfulness could be helpful in teaching people how to think and learn in new enhanced ways. This idea came to me because of my personal experience of the limits of my own educational training all the way through college and beyond. I felt like a fish out of water and had a hard time just thinking “inside the box”.

My personal experience with learning and mindfulness brought me to the conclusion that thinking and learning had far more to do with just cognitive skills. I discovered that cognition is interconnected with emotion and tactile experience. The term “emotional intelligence” has now become an accepted part of the learning continuum and will continue to play an even larger role as it discovers the depth of it’s possibilities. As it relates to education, mindfulness has the convenient twofold application of increasing attention skills and reducing stress thereby creating new opportunities for excellence. As the over 1800 studies in mindfulness over a vast array of applications conclude, increased attentions skills, increased awareness and connection with emotions and the body result in greater aptitude for learning and communication. We are no longer tied to thinking “inside the box” and are discovering new exciting ways to learn resulting in an unprecedented explosion of creativity.

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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: Happiness, Positive Thinking, Abundance, Law of Attraction, Relaxation etc.

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For many years I have paid particular attention to things people want such as abundance, happiness, ability to generate positive thoughts, law of attraction, relaxation and so forth. Being like all people, I too have had a personal interest in how I could embody these things and how I could teach it to others. I have read all the books, gone to the seminars, practiced the exercises and spoken to the leaders in these fields to get a better handle on what it takes to achieve these qualities that are valued by so many people. At the same time that I’ve been doing my research, I have continued to practice mindfulness and this has spanned over a period of more than forty years.

To my surprise I have discovered that although these qualities continue to be valued and movements continue to arise around them there is considerable doubt as to the ultimate value of the pursuit of these things. To make matters worse I have spoken with many people who teach these things who candidly admit that the various approaches they teach simply don’t work. There is acknowledgment that these techniques can provide temporary results but inevitably fall by the wayside. I think temporary results are fine and can open the door to a new way of being if approached mindfully. Usually these people have come to me to discuss mindfulness and want to know what it has to say about what they are doing.

Mindfulness has a lot to say about these things if my personal experiences and my interpretation of others experiences in mindfulness are being seen clearly. To begin with, happiness, positivity, relaxation, abundance, law of attraction and so forth are just part of the spectrum of human experience. There is the other side of the spectrum which if ignored can cross the border to denial and disconnection. At that point delusion can set in and a cascade of disappointment can become hard to bear. I think it’s great to fully experience the sought after states of being but only if the opposite states of being are welcomed just as much. This is where equanimity, active acceptance, non striving and letting go come in. The age old saying that the best way to achieve these things is by not trying to achieve them comes to mind as true in every field of human experience. There is a fine line to tread here to fully grasp and engage this process and the practice of mindfulness supplies the map and the missing link. It ultimately transforms the inner experience to reflect a new relationship with the world which in turn redefines the sought after experiences and provides a firm foundation of peace.

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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: Healing

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The Many Uses of Mindfulness: Healing

Over the years people have come to me to learn mindfulness for many different reasons. At the top of the list is healing. Healing can be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual and in the end true healing involves an interface between all of these. To begin with, I like to draw the distinction between healing and curing. Curing is usually thought of in terms of a physical shift from disease to no disease. To me healing has more to do with one’s relationship to the desire for curing. That relationship can be “healed” through the practice of mindfulness. It produces a new way of looking at the issue that results in the clear experience of the issue in the present moment versus the experiences of it from the past and all the anxiety producing concerns for how it may morph in the future. Letting go of the past and future concerns of the issue jettisons a lot of unnecessary baggage and allows for a redirection of energy which can be used to help transform the existing situation. With the redirection of that energy the body/mind is given a greater opportunity to achieve balance and find the ‘healer within”. Mindfulness serves as the “hub” of the healing wheel and facilitates other strategies that can relieve different situations. Many people find other important approaches such as diet, nutrition, exercise, and sense of community are enlivened by a good dose of mindfulness.

Paul

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Mindfulness Based Stress Beating Tips

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Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction

Mindfulness Based Stress Beating Tips #1

To reduce stress through the practice of mindfulness takes a certain level of commitment. It is fairly simple to understand the concept of paying attention moment by moment but because it involves doing things in a new way there is a level of patience needed to get through the beginning phase of practice. In our “instant” culture this can certainly be a challenge at times. Rest assured though, that regular practice will ultimately create positive change.

Mindfulness Based Stress Beating Tips #2

There are two kinds of mindfulness practice. One kind is the meditation practice which uses the core practice of paying attention moment by moment without judging our breath, bodies, thoughts, emotions, beliefs and attitudes. It involves going inward with silence and stillness in order to fully experience these things. The second practice is mindfulness in everyday life which is bringing that moment to moment awareness to our experiences outside of the meditation practice. Mindful eating, walking communicating, exercising, brushing teeth etc…..all activity becomes part of mindfulness in everyday life. Although the emphasis is traditionally placed on the meditation practice, the everyday/informal practice is just as important. In fact, both are needed to maintain balance in life.

Mindfulness Based Stress Beating Tips #3

The purpose of mindfulness is to allow us to break the stress cycle and begin healing from within. Stress causes us to disconnect from the present moment. Disconnecting is a natural protective coping mechanism that ends up getting stuck in us through chronic stress. Paying attention mindfully is the beginning point of this healing experience and reverses being stuck in stress/fight or flight. The process can be summed up with this sequence: 1. Mindful Attention, 2. Connection, 3. Communication, 4. Regulation, 5. Order, 6.Ease. The reverse sequence is what makes us sick on many levels. That sequence is: 1. Disattention, 2. Disconnection, 3. Discommunication, 4. Disregulation, 5. Disorder, 6. Disease.

Mindfulness Based Stress Beating Tips #4

There are certain qualities that characterize the mindful experience. 1. Non striving allows the experience to come to us rather than trying to force it. Allowing ourselves to fully experience everything without filtering out unwanted experiences is the core of the practice. Trying to force it simply takes us out of the moment. 2. Non judging is a quality that comes with practice and is facilitated by simply noticing judgment without trying to change it. 3. Letting go is another core quality and is what allows you to stay in the moment. Practice letting go of the past and the future and you will find yourself in the present moment. 4. Sense of humor is another quality that comes with present moment experience and is fun to develop and watch unfold. Other qualities that you may notice unfolding in the present moment are compassion, kindness, love, appreciation, forgiveness, gratitude and ease.

Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom. You don’t have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity.

~ Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

When we let go of wanting something else to happen in this moment, we are taking a profound step toward being able to encounter what is here now. If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing. If we don’t really know where we are standing—a knowing that comes directly from the cultivation of mindfulness—we may only go in circles, for all our efforts and expectations. So, in meditation practice, the best way to get somewhere is to let go of trying to get anywhere at all.

~ Jon Kabat-Zinn

If we practice mindfulness, we always have a place to be when we are afraid.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

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Mindfulness and Creativity

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Mindfulness and Creativity. How does mindfulness create and sustain the creative process? The essence of the creative process is freedom. The opposite of freedom is fear (although many say the opposite of fear is love). That being said, perhaps there is a close relationship between freedom and love.

Throughout the ages people have described the feeling that comes with the creative process and it is generally one of being in the moment/flow of whatever activity you are involved in. There is a timeless and effortless sense that usually is experienced as well as a sense of positive energy and a feeling of satisfaction. This is of course the specific quality of present moment awareness and is the result of either a sustained training in mindfulness or having stumbled upon an activity/subject that allows you to enter the present moment as a particular doorway for you. We all have activities/subjects that put us into this experience but all too few of us can access this experience 24×7 which is the real effect of mindfulness practice.

For many, creativity comes as either a physical, mental, emotional or “spiritual” experience or a combination of some of these. For the mindfulness practitioner they are trained in engaging all 4 areas in the exercise of creativity so that it becomes a truly holistic experience. There is a sense of balance driving the creativity and is sustained by that balanced “chi” energy rather than the artificial, temporary adrenaline energy so many people become reliant upon and sustain with negative behaviors, eventually succumbing to it’s pressure over the long term.

There is limitless creativity available to everyone when you step into the present moment.

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Mindfulness and Multitasking

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woman multitasking

Lately multitasking has come to the attention of the field of stress as an activity that produces high levels of stress, reduces workplace productivity and dilutes our ability to experience life more fully. For the most part I agree with that but not because multitasking is intrinsically counterproductive, but because people have not been trained on how to multitask effectively.

Let’s take a close look at how the average person multitasks versus how someone trained in mindfulness multitasks. The average person has not been trained in focusing attention and letting go so consequently when it comes to multitasking as they move from one subject/activity to the next, part of the previous subject/activity comes with them and after awhile it all becomes a mish mosh of unfocused confusion and does in fact cause stress.

On the other hand, when someone trained in mindfulness multitasks and they move from subject/activity to subject/activity they are able to let go of the previous subject/activity and move cleanly onto the next without the usual spill over from the previous. On the outside it may look the same as the untrained person, but on the inside there is a clean movement from task to task with no residual left over from the previous. Multitasking then becomes faster, more efficient, more productive and frankly, fun to do. Rather than produce and perpetuate adrenaline addiction, it produces and perpetuates what the Eastern traditions call Chi, or positive modulated energy.

This reminds me of a story/legend of a famous Yogi who would ask the many gathered people who had come to see him to ask him a question all at the same time. He would then proceed to answer every one of them. I don’t know if that is a true story but it got me thinking many years ago about the potential of attention and the story has stuck with me all these years.

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