Image: Aaron Goodman
In Brief
Pausing on the Present
- Mindfulness is a mental mode of being engaged in the present moment without evaluating or emotionally reacting to it.
- More than 250 medical centers worldwide now offer mindfulness-based therapies for mood and other disorders.
- Mindfulness training works, at least in part, by strengthening the brain's ability to pay attention.
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Pulling into a parking spot at work, you realize you have no recollection of the drive that got you there. On reaching the bottom of a page in a book, you are frustrated that you have failed to understand what you just read. In conversation, you suddenly become aware that you have no idea what the person speaking to you has said.
These episodes are symptoms of a distracted mind. You were thinking about a vacation while reading a report or reliving a hurtful exchange with a friend instead of paying attention to the road or conversation. Whether the mind journeys to the future or the past, whether the thoughts that whisked you away were useful, pleasant or uncomfortable, the consequences are the same. You missed the present, the experience of the moment, as it was unfolding. Your mind was hijacked into mental time travel.
This article was originally published with the title Being in the Now.
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8 Comments
Add CommentI read enough already! But then I already know:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy rush? When you get there, there you are.
Dear Amishi,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor a long time I’ve been practicing what I called open eyes meditation. On surface, such meditation resembles mindfulness, but in depth diminishes internal dialogue/monologue. And here is a danger I would like readers to warn about.
Basically, novices could unintentionally “sink” into entirely wordless now. And without supervision, re-establishing internal dialogue/monologue could be very difficult with unpredictable psychological side effects.
We should never underestimate how much our internal dialogues/monologues sustain our psychological integrity. We also should never underestimate enchanting powers of wordless now.
I, therefore, strongly recommend meditative attempts with a patient partner who will keep an eye on us and, by talking to us, help us to re-establish internal dialogue/monologue.
I also recommend initial attempts to meditate in natural environment lacking distractive human voices. Only later, when we learn how to emerge from wordless now, we can try to meditate surrounded by human activity.
Have a nice day,
Damir Ibrisimovic
http://home.pacific.net.au/~damir-dsl/
Dear Amishi,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThank you so much for this fabulous article, which I enjoyed very much.
In fact, what people frequently refer to as “Mindfulness” is basically a combination of “Mindful-Awareness,” i.e., ‘Mindfulness’ and ‘Self-Awareness.’
Recent scientific findings on “Non-conscious or Unconscious Cognitive Processing” suggest how Mindful-Awareness functions and operates with a wide perspective, unbiased, undiscriminating attentiveness, or unknowing knowing, or knowing without biased thought towards encountered phenomena perceived through one’s eyes, ears, nose tongue, body and mind (6 sense spheres), instead of a narrow view through "Conscious Cognitive Processing."
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buddhism-Science/204440096358898
fMRI Brain scanning images during “Perceptual Processing” (focusing on physical aspect)have shown how it operates in sequential order at different and distinctive parts of the brain, apart from those “Conceptual Processing” (emphasizing meanings) [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Buddhism-Science/204440096358898?sk=photos_stream].
This appears to coincide with the “Thought Process” (Vidhee-Jitta) described in Buddhism over 2,500 years ago. With the initial step of “Pure Perception” (Sanna), followed by “Biased Perception” (Sanna-Cetana), as 2 sequential steps, which can be interrupted by Mindful-Awareness. It has been called “I-tag” in modern science (Brain Lancaster, Liverpool Polytechnic), or what Prof. Antonio Damasio, Head, the Brain and Creativity Institute, USC, described as, “In parallel with generating mental patterns for an object, the brain also generates a sense of ‘self’ in the act of knowing.”
‘Biased thought’ is basically the cause of all the stress, conflicts, dis-ease (‘Dukkha’ in Buddhism), and ‘Mindfulness” or its variant, e.g., MBSR or MBCT, etc. can resolve such stress, as it catches and eradicates those thoughts as they arise. (http://wikisend.com/download/282458/Mindfulness and Stress Management.pdf)
Mind equipped with “Mindful-Awareness” well-trained through “Mindfulness Meditation,” or “Insight or Vipassana Meditation” is capable of realizing and eradicating biased thoughts, and would free one's mind from stress, conflict, dis-ease, or suffering, rooted in the self-generated 'self' concept or 'self-image hologram.'
Therefore, it has been stated that “Mindful-Awareness is the road-map, as well as the treasure.” (Khemananda).
Sincerely,
Kongsak Tanphaichitr, M.D.
Prof. of Clinical Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis
Chairman, Buddhist Council of Greater St. Louis
Mindfulness makes a person happier and healthier.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is the medicine for everybody. Be mindful and be happy and healthy.
S. N. Tiwary
Director
For me; being mindful is second nature; it has always been a normal function that I own. If the examples you gave in the first paragraph are an indication of the "norm" of the people in our society today, there is something drastically wrong going on with the big picture.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHaving no recollection of an entire episode of driving somewhere - and calling that a "symptom of distraction" is an understatement, to say the very least ... I call it "an accident waiting to happen". And, reading an entire page of a book - and having no recollection of what you've (allegedly) just read?? If one is so out of it that they don't even know what they've read - how can they claim to have even "read" the page? Mentally checking out while another is speaking to you? What the heck?
What I find most unsettling about this article was the casual assessment of the "consequences" of such behavior: "missing the present"; it said. That's all. Just "missing the present". No mention of the probable consequence of you causing a car accident because you were not "in the now" whilst driving! Driving a motorized vehicle is a serious responsibility - and I cannot fathom how someone who knows they have the propensity to check out while driving, could allow themselves to get behind the wheel and then use the drive for anything other than responsibly driving. Perhaps it would behoove the author of this article to mention the more serious consequences that result from not paying attention when driving, instead of deeming "missing the now" as being the imperative statement. Someone who tends to "miss the now" can hardly be expected to carry that "miss the now" thought all the way through into "missing the now while driving would probably result in an accident".
Then the other thing about this article, is the information that appears in the box to the right of it; under the heading "In Brief"; it said:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Mindfulness is a mental mode of being engaged in the present moment without evaluating or emotionally reacting to it."
That statement is INCORRECT; how dare you people provide a completely erroneous definition? You obviously provided the information for those folks who don't know the definition of "mindfulness" - and the information you provided is WRONG!! Although I am fully aware of what "mindfulness" is, I am providing the following sourced information for unarguable substantiation:
(Source)- Collins World English Dictionary
"Mindful"(ˈmaɪndfʊl):
— adj (usually followed by 'of'): Keeping aware; heedful: (ex:)mindful of your duties.
Source: Dictionary.com Unabridged, Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013:
"mind·ful": [mahynd-fuhl] adjective
Attentive, aware, or careful (usually followed by 'of') (ex): mindful of one's responsibilities.
Synonyms: heedful, thoughtful, regardful.
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In closing, just what kind of show are you people running over there? The "Society of Professional Journalists" state that: "Integrity is the cornerstone of a Journalist's credibility. Deliberately distorting information is NEVER permissible."
This ridiculous article is glaring evidence that author George Orwell's vision of the future was right; when he wrote these words in his classic book "1984", way back in 1949:
"In times of universal deceit, lies will be designed to sound truthful; we have now sunk to the depths of the manipulation of language. The invention of print made it easier to manipulate public information and public opinion. If "Liberty" means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be seen as a revolutionary act." ... George Orwell, "1984"
To: collettedesmaris-
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhoa...slow down...
First, please note the article was about 'mindfulness' not 'mindful'. Mindfulness is a noun, not an adjective. It has a well understood meaning...and the author's definition is more than adequate. Search its meaning on google, or any other search engine.
Even so, how does your definition differ so greatly from the author's...what is the difference between: "Keeping aware", "heedful" "Attentive" and "being engaged in the present moment"?
Also, if you have never had a moment of destraction in your life, you are a very unusual person. I also do not envy you. To always, always, be totally present, would, in my view be most unpleasant. Most of the time, I agree with the author that for health and happiness we should cultivate 'mindfulness', but there are times, for example: when dining alone in a restaurant with 3 unruly and loud children in the next booth... I would very much prefer to 'tune them out' by 'daydreaming' rather than being 'in the moment'.
In my experience the vast, vast majority of people have had the experience of arriving somewhere, and not really remembering the trip. That does not mean we were 'unconscious' during said trip, only that our minds were 'also' focused on something else. Enough of our senses were still 'in the present' to have instantly brought us 'back' if something needed to be attended to.
state of being "mindful" - kindly explain why you think they carry different definitions. Nice try, but your premise does not hold water - direct your focus where I did, and you cannot debate the validity of my claim. I clearly referred to the information appearing in the box to the right of the article; directly underneath the photograph, titled "In Brief"; as being incorrect. I reiterate: It stated that: "mindfulness is a mental mode of being engaged in the present moment WITHOUT EVALUATING OR EMOTIONALLY REACTING TO IT." That's NOT correct. The fact is, regardless of whether one is "being mindful"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisor demonstrating "mindfulness", they very much ARE evaluating or emotionally reacting to it.
Perhaps a few examples will convey my point:
When one is being mindful of being a safe driver, it can also be said that they are heeding to the traffic lights; that they are attentive to the other drivers around them; that they are careful as they operate a motorized vehicle amidst others; and as they demonstrate "mindfulness"
whilst they drive, they are thoughtful about the dangers of tailgating; that they demonstrate regard for the fact that they are behind the wheel of a large, heavy, motorized vehicle; and that they are aware of the fact
that if they do not focus their full attention while driving that vehicle, all it takes is one second of not being mindful of that responsibility, and it could result in an accident - which hopefully carries an emotional component of consciously not wanting to put themselves or others in harm's way. "She demonstrated "mindfulness" as she was mindful of other cars around her in traffic."
Do you get me, Sweetheart?
Allowing your mind to be focused on anything besides driving your car while you are behind the wheel equals not being fully focused on all the tasks necessary as you navigate among cars. I rightfully view driving a motorized vehicle as a serious responsibility each & every time I get behind the wheel. You stated that you "have experience with a vast, vast majority of people arriving somewhere and not really remembering the trip." And, you say it like you find the notion not only completely acceptable - you defend it! You do not reassure me to say that you think "enough of your senses were still in the present to instantly bring you back if something needed attending to." "Bring you BACK"??!
That's precisely the seconds I'm talking about that result in an accident - those few precious seconds
when you weren't paying attention.