Mindfulness: A Primer

If you’ve found my blog, you are probably familiar with the concept of “mindfulness.” Simply put, mindfulness refers to the focused attention on the here and now with a nonjudgmental attitude. It requires individuals to be “open to and accepting of their present experience in order to develop tolerance for difficult feelings expressed within oneself and by others” (Erford, 2020). Though the concept of mindfulness is certainly trending, it is a centuries-old practice cultivated by the Buddha which he believed to be a path to enlightenment and the end of all suffering. 

Mindfulness training has consolidated around eight, one-week modules accounting for less than thirty minutes of daily practice, the amount of time believed sufficient to shift one’s default mode from mindlessness to mindfulness. Through this blog, I am sharing my favorite 8-week program outlined in the best-selling book, “Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World,” (2011) co-authored by Mark Williams, PhD, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford, and Danny Penman, PhD Biochemist. If you follow along, each week I share additional tips and reflections based upon my personal experiences with the program. I invite you to comment in the blog and share your experience as well! 

But first. . . some background!

Mindfulness is not just the stuff of an ancient religion or hippie gurus. Since the 1970s, mindfulness has been the subject of extensive research by some of the world’s leading universities and medical institutions. In 1979, Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Jon Kabat-Zinn created the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University’s medical school. The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program (MBSR) was designed to help patients endure the physical and emotional pain of chronic health conditions. This was the first endeavor to integrate mindfulness into mainstream medicine. Most mental health clinicians — regardless of their theoretical orientation — incorporate some aspect of mindfulness in the treatment of a wide range of issues including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleep problems. Mindfulness skills also help improve focus, productivity, resilience, and communication.

The essence of mindfulness

Mindfulness is about presence — being fully present in this moment right now — not half here, half “lost in thought.” The opposite state — the state where most of us reside most of the time — was referred to by the Buddha as “monkey mind.” Monkey mind refers to the act of compulsively thinking. It is that internal voice that is often self — and other — critical and the cause of significant anxiety-provoking and depression-feeding distress! Monkey mind’s preoccupation with the past and the future — ruminating about the past and obsessing about the future —  prohibits one from being fully engaged and present in “the now.” According to Eckhart Tolle — my personal mindfulness guru and author of “The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment” (1999) — it is the elusive but ever present “Now” where one finds the peace promised by the Buddha. 

Don’t think you suffer from monkey mind?

Let’s consider a few scenarios. . .

• Have you ever driven from point A to point B with only a vague idea as to how you got there? Or perhaps you drove to the wrong destination entirely, intending to go to the bank and ending up at the grocery store?

• Have you ever had a conversation with a friend, your spouse, or your child and found yourself offering a generic response because you were thinking of other things?

• Do you toss and turn unable to sleep because you just can’t shut off your brain?

If these scenarios are familiar, you have experienced “monkey mind.” 

Symptoms of Monkey Mind

Mental and Emotional:

• Irritability

• Depression

• Somber mood

• Defensiveness

• Impatience

• Feeling unsettled, stressed, frantic

Physiological: 

• Tiredness/fatigue

• Heart racing/palpitating

• Headaches

• Bellyaches

• High blood pressure

• Increased frequency of illness

• Over-reliance on drugs and alcohol

(Williams & Penman, 2011)

Tick-Tock!. . .Time to Get Mindful!  

Tolle says that most of us toggle between levels of unconsciousness, scarcely ever achieving “mindfulness” but for brief snatches of time. 

Consider this startling perspective offered by Williams and Penman (2011):  

“If you are about 30 years old and have a life expectancy of 80, you have about 50 years remaining. But if you are only truly “conscious” two out of 16 waking hours a day, your life expectancy is only another six years and three months!”

No time like “the now,” my friends: it is past time to get mindful! 

Note: This entire 8-week mindfulness training program is posted here on this site, so you may begin any time. Just follow along with the program week to week; just do read the primer first. If you feel that you missed too many exercises or more than a day or two of practice, please feel free to repeat the week and keep on going! But do not worry or back track because you feel you just aren’t getting it. Be patient. The practice builds and so will your skills! I have included some mid-week progress checks where I share some additional thoughts and suggestions. I suggest you do reserve those for a mid-week “reality check” so as not to overwhelm yourself with too much information at the beginning of the week.

Enjoy the Now my friends! 

Jennifer