Mindfulness and Meditation

No one is as peaceful as this cat. She is an inspiration to us all! ;-)

I am taking steps to freeing my mind from negativity and stress. This month, in addition to continuing my own research on happiness and continuing to implement practicing happiness in activities, I am now diving into the world of Mindfulness, meditation and Buddha!

Mindfulness is essentially practicing an awareness, specifically a visceral awareness of the present. The Mindfulness meditation is focusing on the act of breathing and/or pausing to objectively recognize meandering thoughts and refocusing the self on the present moment without judgment.

According to many experts in the psychology field “Mindfulness” practices leads to a reduction in stress, neurologically speaking, which also of course equates to behavior and thought processes. In Raising Happiness Christine Carter cites studies which indicate that people who practice mindfulness exhibit “more intense and frequent pleasant and positive emotions, heightened sense of self knowledge, which is a key component to self control, greater empathy and attunement with others” as well as being “more self-confident, outgoing… (and) less stressed out, anxious and depressed” not to mention “ cultivating an emotional balance” (p. 133). Carter equates meditation to be a part of the “holy grail” to happiness. It is not an exaggeration to say that many psychologists are agreeing with her as study after study pumps out support for this holistic practice.

To aid in my amateur attempts at meditation I have started reading the book the mindfulness solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems by Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD. This book delves into the Mindfulness practice in the Buddhist tradition. Siegel points out that Mindfulness is beginning to become a regular part of well respected psychoanalytic/therapeutic practices. It has started being utilized in therapies. It is been credited with helping alleviate mood disorders, eating disorders, anxieties, phobias, OCD symptoms, mourning losses etc. Obviously alleviate is NOT cure; however, Mindfulness practices are very helpful.

To paraphrase my comprehension so far the main principles are:

1. Everything is temporary. Mindfulness revolves around the concept that there is a need to accept that nothing lasts and that our resistance is futile. No just kidding, that is Star Trek. Our existence is temporary and we should not resist this notion. Embracing our moratality is fundamental.

2. Clouding our minds with worries about the future and the past are detrimental to our happiness. Often depression, anxiety and other mood disorders have reoccurring negative thought patterns. People who suffer with depression are more likely to remember negative events than positive ones, remember criticism more than compliments, more negatively judge themselves and precieve interactions with others more negatively etc. Mindfullness is great and aids in alleviating some of this disordered thinking because it practices resetting the mind to the present, not letting the mind slip to past negative memories or future negative concerns, and as part of the practice there is no judgment placed on “slip ups”. In essence Mindfulness could be considered a little cognitive behavioral therapy.

3. Mindfulness focuses on the present moment and in meditation on self awareness and breathing.

As I learn more about Mindfulness and see its effects in my own house I will continue to post.

My first attempt on record:
The first night I tried mindfulness meditation I brought my lap top to bed. I played a free meditation (learning/teaching) podcast. I felt a little silly and still do; however, I am very seriously looking for peace and this has a promise to help.

My man spent the whole time being the way grown men can be, when they forget they are (in fact) grown up, he kept burping (among other bodily noises) and giggling. I think I had to start the pod cast over at least ten times and it was very hard not to laugh and stay focused. But as research suggests, laughter brings happiness in and of itself, enjoying the frustration and even immaturity was a nice way to keep in mind happiness can NOT be too serious an endeavor (by nature). I felt, at the end of the twenty minutes (more like an hour after all interruptions), if I can meditate through that I should be able to meditate through anything.