Once upon a time, in a region between Nepal and India called Kapilavastu, there lived a royal descendant who grew tired of his comfortable and routine life. One night, the young man decided to sit under a fig tree until he found true knowledge. He was Siddharta Gautama, better known as Buddhaa relevant character in the history of meditation who enhanced one’s own experience as a source of knowledge.
Some 2,500 years laterin some mind of our society: “Tomorrow I have to hand in a paper for the university, how much time do I have left? I think a couple of sections, how is the meeting going for my brother? I have to buy bread, I don’t know what time they close, never I remember, I’ll buy a snack to take to my friend, it’s her birthday and last year I forgot to congratulate her, my memory is bad, but it doesn’t surprise me with the pace of life I lead.”
This mental speech is very common. Our ability to anticipate the future allows us to avoid potential problems or resolve issues in advance. On the other hand, taking into account the past allows us to learn from previous experiences. Both questions are really useful. But, if we focus on the past and/or the future, what about the present? How many things do we miss in the present because we are thinking and judging past events? In this Psychology-Online article we reflect on the importance of living in the present and how to achieve it through a type of meditation: mindfulness. You’ll find What is mindfulness and how is it practiced?.
Meaning of mindfulness
To know what mindfulness is and how it is practiced, we must first know what mindfulness means. The meaning of mindfulness is full attention or full consciousness. Mindfulness is an English term, an old synonym for attention which means attention. mind means mind, while fulness It means fullness. The origin of the word mindfulness is found in the term satiwhich in Pali means consciousness, attention and memory. The concept of mindfulness currently refers to the fact of Be aware and attentive to the present moment. Although it can be translated into the Spanish language, experts recommend using the Anglo-Saxon term or the Pali term, since they better reflect the meaning of mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a meditation-based practice that consists of training attention to be aware of the present. Mindfulness meditation, what is it? According to Jon Kabat Zinn (1994), mindfulness is pay attention intentionally to the present moment and without judging. While for Vicente Simón (2007), one of the greatest representatives of mindfulness in Spain, it is a universal and basic human capacity that consists of the possibility of being aware of the contents of the mind moment by moment.
Mindfulness is born from Eastern traditions, especially Buddhism and, specifically, Vipassana meditation. The origin of mindfulness dates back 2,500 years, when Siddharta Gautama perfected a religious and philosophical practice that had mindfulness as its essence.
What is meditation?
Meditation is a way to train the mind. Mindfulness is based on meditation, but this is a much broader and more heterogeneous practice. You will find more information about meditation in this article: .
What is vipassana meditation
Vipassana meditation is a type of meditation originating from India. Vipassana means “seeing things as they are” and this is the goal of this type of meditation. It is practiced through self-observation of the body, mind and their changes.
Mindfulness: westernized meditation
It is said that mindfulness is a type of Westernized meditation since it has been adapted to the needs of life in the West.
Although meditation is an ancient practice, it began to spread in the West at the beginning of the 20th century. It was established between the 60s and 70s, entering psychology schools. Little by little, mindfulness was incorporated as a technique to be used by physicians in their professional practice. The maximum exponent of this process is Jon Kabat-Zinnwho in 1979 inaugurated the center for mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and promoted the mindfulness-based stress reduction program.
Since then, research on mindfulness has multiplied exponentially, disseminating findings about its multiple benefits.
The mindfulness meditation that we use in contemporary psychology does not require a specific body position and is not related to any type of religious belief. It consists of a practice to focus attention in the present moment and skillfully respond to mental processes, thereby influencing stress and behavior.
Benefits of mindfulness
The most important benefits of mindfulness are the following:
Regulation of attention
Attention is like a spotlight that illuminates a stage. This stage is very large and the light source cannot illuminate everything, but rather it illuminates a specific part. The stimuli we process depend on our attention and such significant issues as memory and learning depend on it. For all this, knowing how to move this focus and illuminate what is most important to attend to at all times it’s of vital importance. Mindfulness allows us to train the regulation of attention and allows us to be aware of what we usually overlook when we activate autopilot.
Mindful moments
In order to meet the demands of today’s society, the pace of life is, in general, accelerated. Learning mindfulness allows you to deactivate autopilot and makes it easier to have more mindful moments, that is, moments when you are aware of the present.
Mindfulness and emotions
Mindfulness or full awareness, by focusing on the present moment, allows be aware of what you are feeling right now. With this, we can suffer less from emotions felt in the past, anticipate less the emotions that may arise in the future and also be more aware of what emotions we are feeling in the present, at this moment. Knowing your current emotional state is the first step to regulating it. Emotional regulation consists of adapting emotional expression to the situation.
Detect thoughts
The mind does not stop bombarding thoughts continuously. Being aware of this activity allows you to manage it. There are thoughts that have no real function at that precise moment and produce background noise in the mind. Through mindfulness, we can let go of these thoughts to focus on what we want.
Mindfulness to study
Studying while keeping your attention fully focused on what you read is a mindfulness action. Mindfulness helps you study as it improves the regulation of attention and decreases the flow of distracting thoughts.
Relaxation and mindfulness
It should be noted that mindfulness is not a relaxation technique and is not its main objective. However, it can be a beneficial consequence.
Mindfulness and anxiety
Anxiety is a normal and functional emotion, which serves to activate the body in the face of possible danger. However, sometimes anxiety becomes pathological since the activation is excessive and prevents normal functioning. Anxiety is born from a strong worry about the future, from an anticipatory fear. Therefore, mindfulness or full awareness, helps reduce anxiety focusing attention on the present moment.
Mindfulness and relationships
Through the practice of mindfulness, relationships with other people also improve, since it helps develop the capacity for empathy and understanding.
Mindfulness and education
These are increased creativity and improved academic performance.
Mindfulness and brain
How does mindfulness affect the brain? The dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex is activated with attention and self-observation, while the prefrontal cortex is activated, favoring more conscious processing of information.
The thalamo-cortical networks of the brain create future predictions with the information that is captured through the senses through very powerful neuronal connectivity. This allows the brain to make quick assessments in order to carry out behaviors consistent with survival. However, it also configures the mind in terms of good or evil and encourages intense reactions based on previous experiences. Mindfulness allows us to stop identifying with this functioning, being aware that this mental activity does not represent the “I” and thus disconnecting automatic processes.
Mindfulness and neuroscience research has found that the practice of mindfulness is related to a increased thickness of the medial prefrontal area and insula. They also indicate that the practice of mindfulness is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in areas of the brain responsible for memory, learning and emotion regulation.
Mindfulness: how to practice it
How do you practice mindfulness? Before starting, it is important to know the different components of mindfulness to learn how to practice it.
1. Be aware
It is about paying attention fully in the present moment, that is, be aware of what is happening here and now. It is about being aware of what you are doing and what is going through your mind at this moment: the information that your senses are capturing and the mind’s own products (thoughts, memories, imaginations, etc.).
2. Observe
It is about observing what appears in the mind as content that constantly changes. Simply observe what appears.
3. Accept
Thoughts will appear that could cause rejection or disgust. However, mindfulness is about accepting and allowing thoughts to be as they are. Acceptance consists of don’t put up resistance.
4. Don’t judge
Not judging the thoughts that appear in the mind consists of refrain from making an assessment or a reaction, whether positive or negative.
5. Experiment
Mindfulness proposes a curious and open-minded attitude, with which present sensations are received with curiosity, as if it were the first time they appear, avoiding the influence of previous learning.
6. Compassion
One of the essential components of mindfulness is attitude of loving kindness and kindness towards the observed object. You will find more information about this component in this article: .
7. Let go
Letting go means letting go of things that are leaving without trying to hold on to them. It consists of understanding that everything is impermanent, that everything has a beginning, a duration and an end. When this ending happens, mindfulness proposes not to hold on, but to let go. That is, let go of the experience.
8. Patience
Being patient in the practice of mindfulness means understanding that things happen when they have to happen.
9. Trust
Having confidence is about believing in yourself, in your own feelings…