What is Mindfulness: Benefits, How to Practice

What is Mindfulness: Benefits, How to Practice

Fr om this article, you will know about the modern scientific method of mindfulness — a system of secular non-religious meditative practices. The eight-week program The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) was developed by Professor John Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts in the 70s of the last century. The goal of the program is to combat stress, depression, and physical pain. The MBSR system is based on Buddhist meditation practices. The mindfulness methodology includes techniques for developing awareness, hatha yoga classes, and analysis of emotions and thinking.

Today, mindfulness meditations based on the Kabat-Zinn MBSR method are used:

• in medical institutions as an auxiliary method of treatment;
• in education for memorizing material and increasing attentiveness;
• in business to increase employee productivity.

Mindfulness is not a mystical Eastern technique. Focusing attention and awareness cannot be called something Buddhist or Hindu. These are the capabilities of the human mind, inherent in nature. By the way, compassion, wisdom, and kindness, which develop as a result of practices, also cannot be attributed to any particular religion. That is why MBSR is suitable for representatives of all cultures and faiths.

Mindfulness meditation practices help to get rid of emotional overload. Today, most people are involved in a rapid flow of events. In the cycle of desires and anxieties, a person forgets what it means to simply be. Free time is spent immersing oneself in virtual reality, and stress is eaten and drunk away. Vacation lasts only a month a year and is also full of things to do. As a result, a person becomes like a dog chasing its own tail.

Mindfulness meditation techniques teach you to stop the pointless 'running in circles'. The methodology is based on teaching attentiveness and self-observation. The program firmly establishes a person in the present moment, returns fullness of life, and teaches how to conserve energy in stressful situations.

Doctors prescribe the mindfulness meditation program:

• for headaches,
• high blood pressure,
• heart diseases,
• cancer,
• AIDS, etc.

The term mindfulness literally translates from English as ‘fullness of mind’. In Buddhist literature, this word is mainly used in the meaning of 'attentiveness'.

The Sanskrit term smrti also corresponds to the concept of mindfulness, which means 'remembering' or 'recalling'. At every moment of your life, a person is either distracted or focused — there is no third option. In this context, 'remembering' means moving from a state of distraction to a state of focus. Increasing periods of 'awareness' is the essence of mindfulness.

Be a light unto yourself. Do not worry about what others say, do not worry about traditions, religions, morals. Just be a light unto yourself.

Buddha

Here are some mindfulness techniques described by the author of the MBSR program, John Kabat-Zinn, in the books 'Full Catastrophe Living' and 'Wherever You Go, There You Are'.

The professor recommends practicing daily from five to thirty minutes or more:

• Sit in a meditative position and contemplate the birth of each moment. Use your breath as an anchor to maintain awareness. Observe your breathing. Each time the mind wanders, let the 'anchor chain' bring your attention back to your inhales and exhales.
• Lying on your back, mentally scan your body: shift your attention from one zone to another. First the left leg — from bottom to top, from toes to thigh, then the right leg. Then scan the torso from the pelvis to the shoulders. Then the arms — from fingers to shoulders. Then move your attention along the neck, face, and back of the head to the crown. Then imagine that you are inhaling through the crown and exhaling through your toes. Then vice versa. Conduct inhalations and exhalations throughout the body back and forth. After completing the scan, lie still for a while.
• Conscious yoga. Hatha yoga is a set of exercises and static poses, namely asanas. The goal of such complexes is to stretch and strengthen muscles, as well as develop energy channels of the subtle body. Transitions between asanas should be performed smoothly, being aware of every moment. When performing static poses, maintain attention to breathing and sensations in the body. These are excellent mindfulness exercises.
• Analysis of emotions. Acknowledge your emotional state, whatever it may be. Feel the emotional pain without trying to explain it, fix it, or get rid of it. Focus on your breathing, observing the emotion. This way you will become calmer. Separate in your mind the specific situation from your reaction to it. With this approach, you are more likely to find a way out of unpleasant circumstances.
• Problem analysis. Focus on the problem. Separate the problem itself from your feelings about it. Using intuition, determine the actions that you are able to take to solve the problem. If the problem is too large, break it down into small pieces. Then act. If you understand that nothing can be done, do nothing. Be with what is happening, doing non-action. In some situations, this is the only acceptable reaction.
• When doing everyday things, try to feel the charm of every moment — even the most ordinary. If at some point you feel dissatisfied, do not run away from the moment — do not grab your phone, do not look for something to chew on. Stay in the center of the cyclone. Let everything take its course. Check yourself from time to time, asking the question: "Am I not distracted? Wh ere are my thoughts wandering now?"
• Show conscious generosity. Note the internal resistance to the desire to give. These may be doubts or anxieties. Think about the fact that these are just manifestations of inertia and limitation. Realize that by giving, you transform yourself. This way you get rid of feelings of isolation and futility of existence.
• During the day, walk consciously, slightly slowing down your movements. Keep your attention on your body and on walking. When the first thoughts about stopping the meditation arise, do not give in to this impulse. Stay in the present. Feel the harmony in the present. Also use any ordinary things for training: washing in the shower, preparing and eating food, etc. Hearing the doorbell, do not rush to open the door. Whatever you do, move with dignity.

A scientific study of the impact of the eight-week stress reduction program MBSR is described in the book 'Healing with Mindfulness' by John Kabat-Zinn and others. Let us recall that the MBSR methodology consists of teaching meditative practices and mindfulness.

Before the start of the experiment and upon its completion, MRI images of the subjects' brains were taken. It turned out that those who completed the MBSR program had a decrease in the density of gray matter in the amygdala. This area of the brain is responsible for the 'fight or flight' response. Moreover, the less dense the gray matter became, the more clearly the study participants felt a decrease in stress levels.

The same book describes the result of another experiment conducted on rats. The study itself cannot be called humane, but the data obtained are of interest. It was found that in animals regularly subjected to stress, the amygdala becomes denser. And even when the rats were placed in more calm conditions, after three weeks they still behaved as if they were in a stressful environment. At the same time, the amygdala of the animals maintained a high level of density. That is, external conditions changed, but the rats remained in 'fight or flight' mode.

At the same time, in people who underwent the MBSR program, on the contrary, external conditions remained the same, but the subjective feeling of stress decreased significantly. It can be stated that thanks to meditation, a person's view of the world and attitude to reality changes. At the physical level, this is reflected as a decrease in the density of the amygdala. Those new to this can explore mindfulness for beginners.

Meditation is a tool for transforming the mind and spiritual evolution. From the point of view of Buddhism, meditation is one of the methods that reveals the Buddha nature in a person. Buddha attained final Enlightenment by entering into deep meditation.

In the small vehicle of Buddhism, Hinayana, meditation is performed in order to achieve personal Nirvana. In the large and diamond vehicles, Mahayana and Vajrayana, the goal of the practice is more altruistic: it is Enlightenment, but achieved in order to subsequently 'ferry all living beings to the other shore.'

The result of meditation depends on the motivation of the practitioner. The goals of mindfulness practices are more down-to-earth — improving health, getting rid of stress, depression, and increasing efficiency. Many seek mindfulness for anxiety relief. By setting less ambitious goals, the practitioner receives a comparatively smaller result. This is the main difference between mindfulness and meditation in the classical sense.

However, Buddha himself was not a Buddhist. He gave his teachings to everyone, without dividing people into 'us' and 'them.' John Kabat-Zinn argues that MBSR teaches people Buddhist meditation, but only outside the framework of Buddhism.

The Dalai Lama was once asked if it was dangerous for Buddhism that meditative techniques are gaining popularity in medicine and secular society. He answered this way: "There are four billion people on this planet (1990). One billion of them are Buddhists; and all four billion are suffering." That's all he said.

List of literature:

1. John Kabat-Zinn. "Full Catastrophe Living".
2. John Kabat-Zinn. "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life."
3. John Kabat-Zinn, Sogyal Rinpoche, Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche, and others. "Healing with Mindfulness".
4. Ralph De La Rosa. "Turning Suffering Inside Out". For ongoing support, consider mindfulness training or exploring mindfulness apps.