Mindfulness is Hard. Here are Some Tips.
In the coaching work I do with my clients, mindfulness meditation is the foundational practice to everything else that we do. I started my mindfulness practice about 12 years ago though it was very inconsistent until perhaps 4 or 5 years ago. The reason I was not able to stick with it for so long was that despite the wonderful benefits of mindfulness meditation I was reading about, it was extremely difficult, I was filled with doubts as to whether I was doing it right, and I was not noticing the benefits. However, all of that changed over the last 4 or 5 years and I can not overstate the benefits daily mindfulness practice has on my wellbeing, relationships, and performance levels.
I work with clients to better understand mindfulness meditation including how it impacts our biology in ways that lessen stress, bring about greater feelings of well-being, helps us to be present with and connect with others, and improves cognitive performance. I also teach my clients how to do mindfulness, so they do not need the 8 years I took to figure it out, and of course work with them to integrate it into their daily life, just like eating or brushing their teeth. Now in this article, I am going to share what mindfulness is, how it works both on a physiological and psychological level, some of the applications and known benefits, and to avoid a common pitfall in the practice.
1. What is Mindfulness Meditation?
John Kabat-Zinn, the father of secular mindfulness practice in the US, describes mindfulness as “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.” That piece about “nonjudgmentally” is really important, but we will come back to that in a little bit. Another way to think about it would be bringing awareness to one’s present moment experiences including any physical sensations, sensory perception, thoughts, or feelings. On face value it is a simple concept though it is challenging and requires daily practice to really experience the benefits.
The fact is, most of us are moving through the world on autopilot. This is the opposite of mindfulness. In fact, one could describe it at “mindlessness.” Everyone has probably had the experience of driving in the car and ending up on a familiar route that is leading them somewhere other than their intended destination (i.e., you are headed to the store and wind up driving to work). While this is a noteworthy, albeit somewhat common experience, we are spending much of our waking days lost in a stream of self-referential thoughts about the past or future. That thing that happened the other day. What I said. What I did not say. What I should have said. What that other person must be thinking. And on and on. And most of those thoughts are actually recycled versions of the same thought. In other words, we tend to get lost in the same loop of repetitive thoughts most of the day and it pulls us a way from the moment-to-moment experiences of life.
Like the driving example, however, when we are in this mindless state our body takes over and carries out actions on autopilot without us really thinking about it. The body is great at this and it is a good thing it is. Just imagine if we had to put a lot of thought into everything that we do. It is great that our body learns to do these things and does it without any conscious instruction. Think walking for example. Yet there are times when it is probably better that we are behind the driver’s seat so to speak. In an emotionally charged situation, for instance, we might do better if we are able to thoughtfully respond rather than emotionally react.
World renowned psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, “between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” In using the word “space”, Frankl is describing mindful presence. It is the ability to be fully aware of the moment, both the events outside oneself and their internal experience, and move forward, with discernment, so that their response leads toward a more optimal outcome. Mindfulness lengthens this space and in doing so allows us to live more conscious, present, and meaningful lives.
2. How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work on a Biological Level?
Mindfulness has been shown to alter neural functioning (i.e., activation of neural networks and changes in neural chemistry) in the short term and lead to structural changes over the long term. It has been shown to act on areas of the brain that are central to emotional activation (decreasing amygdala activity), memory (increasing hippocampal activation), executive functions (increasing prefrontal cortex activation), and emotional and behavioral regulation (increased hippocampal, medial frontal, and orbitofrontal cortical function).
Mindfulness has also been shown to increase connectivity between structures in the brain including our limbic structures (i.e., emotional activation) and prefrontal cortex (i.e., emotional regulation) and between the left and right hemispheres of our brain (i.e., improved integration and information processing). Mindfulness also improves cognitive functioning and wellbeing by acting on neurochemicals such as serotonin (mood), dopamine (pleasure and reward), and GABA (calming). It also stimulates changes in the release of key hormones including reducing cortisol levels (stress) and increasing levels of DHEA (mood).
3. What are the Benefits and What Does the Research Show?
In the late 1970’s, Jon Kabat-Zinn, described above as the father of secular mindfulness practice in the U.S., developed a program at the University of Massachusetts Medical school called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or MBSR. He created it as an 8-week manualized program (i.e., a specific set of instructions and practices) so that the effects could be studied in controlled trials. Early findings showed it to be incredibly effective in reducing stress as well as physical pain in individuals with chronic medical conditions as well as improving overall wellbeing. 40 years later, MBSR is now an established evidence-based practice for improving memory, immune function, self-control, attention, addiction, and wellbeing.
Not surprisingly, results like this garner a lot of attention and the practices have been applied and studies in other areas as well. For instance, Williams, Teasdale, and Segal developed Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), applying mindfulness to the treatment of clinical depression. What they found was that mindfulness is not effective in treating someone in the throws of a major depressive episode, but when practiced following a major depressive episode it greatly reduces the likelihood of relapse. This is huge because each episode of major depression increases the likelihood of it occurring again so reducing the likelihood of a subsequent episode by 50% provides a cure for long-term recurrent episodes of major depression.
Another application of mindfulness in clinical settings is Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP). Rooted in MBCT, MBRP focuses on bringing present moment awareness to difficult feelings, habitual thought patterns, cravings, and impulses. Through mindful awareness one can observe these experiences naturally rising and falling in our bodies and minds without further elaboration. Mindfulness is so effective that it is incorporated as a component of many of the most popular and powerful mental health treatment approaches including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Now you may be thinking, “that’s great, but I don’t have a mental health problem.” My response is mindfulness meditation still offers many benefits. If the practices are this effective for those with anxiety disorders, depression, addictions, and personality disorders just imagine how helpful it can be for everyday stress, feeling overwhelmed, regrets, irritability, and compulsive behaviors (e.g., emotional eating and drinking alcohol).
4. Why I Struggled with Mindfulness for So long
For years I struggled with mindfulness because I did not really understand what mindfulness was or what I was trying to achieve. When I started doing mindfulness, I thought the goal was to clear my mind of any thoughts and to focus 100% on the sensation of my breadth. Sounds easy. Impossible to do. I could not go more than 5 breaths before my mind jumped to some other thought. And because I was grasping onto some desired state or outcome of meditation, I thought I was failing and would give up.
The truth is, however, that my mind was doing what our minds naturally do. In fact, there is a term for it. It is called “monkey mind” because our mind jumps from thought to thought or image, feelings, sensation like a monkey swings from branch to branch across a tree. I learned that the goal was not to focus 100% on my breath and stop all other thinking, but rather bring my awareness into the present moment. Certainly, an excellent way to do this is to allow my awareness to rest on the sensation of breathing (though it could be something else) but when my mind naturally drifted away, my job was simply to notice where it went and then gently invite it back to the sensation of breathing. So, if my mind drifts away 100 times, I simply invite it back 100 times. And every time I do, I am exercising the muscle of attention, self-regulation, ease, and wellbeing.
Over the years I have also learned several amazing ways to “hack” mindfulness that I look forward to sharing in future posts. This includes heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback, electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback, and red light photobiomodulation. These are all amazing tools that accelerated my mindfulness practice. However, even with these tools, I still enter my practice ever day with the following guiding principles in mind.
Beginner’s Mind – Seeing things as if for the first time with a sense of curiosity
Non-Striving – Not Trying to get anywhere other than where you are in the moment (i.e., free of grasping or aversion)
Non-Judgment – Impartial observation of experience, without labeling good or bad, right or wrong, fair or unfair
Self-Compassion – Love for yourself as you are, without blame or criticism
Equanimity – Balanced presence and awareness of the moment as it unfolds
5. Take Action Now
As I wrote at the outset, the benefits of mindfulness meditation can not be overstated, and it is a foundational practice with all my coaching clients. I recommend clients practice mindfulness meditation for a minimum of 15 minutes a day. There are now a huge number of apps available to assist you with your practice. I recommend Insight Timer because of the wide range of teachers, courses, and practices including Dawson Church who provides a series of “eco-meditations”, a practice he developed to help all of us enter a meditative state faster. It combines EFT Tapping, HeartMath Heart Coherence, meditation, and few simple physiological shifts shown to quickly move individuals into a meditative state. Of course, there are several other apps on the market including Calm, HeadSpace, and The Mindfulness App. I have personally used and enjoyed the benefits of all of these and am confident, with regular practice, you will too.
I have also developed 3 mindfulness courses I encourage you to explore, including Mindfulness 5x and Mindfulness 10x for enhancing your experience of mindfulness to achieve the same results in far less time. Just click on the offerings link above and select courses.
