What is Mindfulness?
The term mindfulness is an English translation of the Pali word sati. Pali was the language of Buddhist psychology 2500 years ago, and mindfulness is the core teaching of this tradition.
To be mindful is to wake up, to recognize what is happening in the present moment. To pay attention on purpose nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of each moment as it is occurring, with full acceptance. This includes the practice of non-attachment to all experiences whether painful or pleasurable.
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Mindfulness gives us the skills we need to create the life we want and the world we dream of. In today’s fast-paced society, we can turn to mindfulness as way to not just cope, but really thrive in all aspects of our lives. Once your mind is calm, you can relax more easily and you can ride the waves of life with curiosity, acceptance, and joy. How is Mindfulness Informed Therapy helpful?
Mindfulness in therapy allows clients to learn to hold their attention on experiences or emotions that typically trigger strong reactions. For example, If someone is angry, things can quickly turn destructive if the person’s reaction to the feeling gets behaviorally or verbally out of control. These strong effects and reactions are a major source of suffering according to Buddhist psychology. Mindfulness therapy and training can help people learn to make internal space for these charged thoughts, feelings, body sensation, images, memories, etc., that threaten to throw us out of balance. When we become less reactive to disturbing experiences, and learn to just observe with compassion and curiosity, we are able to make clearer choices in all aspects of life.
Mindfulness focuses more on the relationship to what we experience inside and sees HOW we relate to the moment, as the problem. Thus, it is not the food, the anger, the bodily pain, the anxiety, etc. that is the problem, but how we view those issues and react to them that determines if something is going to change for the better.
What problems can Mindfulness Approaches help with?
Mindfulness when used in psychotherapy is an experiential approach. Since avoidance is one of our major strategies in dealing with discomfort, any issue where someone finds they are limiting themselves from living a full life by avoiding opportunities that could enhance their lives due to fear or anxiety, can be helped. Issues such as fear of public speaking, flying, commitment, change, conflict, etc., often involve a person’s attempts to get away from something unpleasant resulting in living a life of ever limiting possibilities. Mindfulness approaches to these issues involve learning to “lean into” the avoided feelings of discomfort and facing them directly This allows for the choice to continue living an “avoidant driven” life or one based on choosing FOR what we want determined by our highest values and desires.
Mindfulness focusing and training is often incorporated with many of the other approaches that we use and is taught to clients as an invaluable life skill that is practiced long after our work together comes to an end. Mindfulness Informed Psychotherapy is based on ancient Buddhist principles but requires no acknowledgement or acceptance of Buddhism as a spiritual practice.