MemphisCounselor

Mindfulness is a simple, but profound concept. It comes from the thousands-year-old tradition of Buddhism and Taoism, but is not tied to any religion in any way. Mindfulness is simply focusing one’s attention on the current moment and what is coming in via the five senses. It is just as important for what it is not; it is letting go of our mind’s wandering into the past or future, evaluation, and categorization.

Mindfulness can certainly be practiced as meditation. Usually one begins with focusing on the breath, bringing the focus back as the mind wanders, without judgement. Practicing mindfulness in the form of meditation may have even greater benefits than other forms, but that does not diminish the huge benefits of any type of mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness can be practiced in the shower, while driving, while cleaning the house, etc. Once it is seen by the definition above, it becomes easy to find time to practice.

So what is gained by practicing mindfulness?
1. It is practice for controlling our attention.
2. It increases our awareness of inner processes.
A. Sensations
B. Emotions
C. Thinking
D. Action Tendencies
3. It is “letting go” practice.
4. It quiets our “mind clutter”, providing silence within which inner wisdom can arise.
5. Provides practice for non-judgement
6. Provides practice for living in the now.
7. Helps us learn about our “self”
8. Lets us experience the power of just being, versus doing.
9. Helps us learn to differentiate between what is real (what comes in via our senses) and what is mind generated (evaluations, judgements, stereotyping, predicting, mind-reading, etc).
10. It also helps us differentiate between what is real versus what our emotions are telling us.

“Self” is a word that we use pretty loosely day to day.  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy has a tripartite conceptualization of self.  The one that fits best with the way we tend to use the word is “self-concept.”  These are the labels that we put on ourselves, such as intelligent, an engineer, mother, lazy, bipolar, Democrat, Catholic, victim, middle-class, etc.  They are the way we view ourselves, and perhaps as others view us.  These become part of our identity.  However, they constrain us unnecessarily, as they do not really describe who we are at our core.

Self-as-container implies that we have parts.  Some of these parts are people with whom we have had close relationships, such as our parents, siblings, and close friends.  They may also be partial representations of people who have abused us emotionally, physically, or sexually.  We may even have parts from earlier times in our lives, such as a child part.  We may have critical parts or fearful parts.  Hopefully, our healthy adult part is in charge most of the time, but if we notice, some of these other parts come to the fore at certain times.

Most important for optimum mental health is our observer self.  This is the aspect of self that lets us notice our own thoughts,emotions, sensations, and behavior and to make meaning.  Development of this part increases our awareness or consciousness about our selves.  This is the self that has been with us always, before we had the parts in our container self or the labels that make up our self-concept.  Quiet attention to our observer self can accelerate our mental and spiritual growth.  Some would say that this core self, which cannot be touched or described, also contains our connection to a higher power, shared consciousness, and so forth.

Understanding this view of the self helps us have a different perspective on our worth as well.  More on this later.