Mindfulness

Ever watch TV for hours when there was nothing on? You weren’t looking at a blank screen, but at the end of the period you felt as if you had, or worse? This is the experience of mindlessness, which is the opposite of mindfulness.

Mindless activities do not have goals (or poorly defined ones), are not challenging, and typically leaves one bored or empty—particularly if we do them for too long. The process of decompressing after a long or difficult day is different, though similar. Both acts involve the process of shutting down the mind. However, decompressing involves turning the mind back on, whereas mindlessness does not.

Mindfulness is different from mindlessness in that mindfulness is engaging. It is about awareness and being in the moment. Mindfulness involves becoming aware of the novelties of the moment and attending to the variety of things going on around you. It is being sensitive to the context and perspective. It is not about focusing on a single stimuli or about letting stimuli simply flow into your mind, but to be an active participant in your own experience. Mindfulness requires that one (a) let go of the need to control and to tolerate uncertainty, (b) resist the tendency to engage in automatic behaviors, and (c) to be less evaluative and analytical.

There is a Simpsons’ episode in which Bart has on Ralph’s Chinese finger cuffs and Ralph says “the more you fight the tighter it gets.” I think the same can be said for our desire to control our lives. The more we fight the uncertainty, the tighter the grip our circumstances have on us. But just like Chinese finger cuffs, if we relax we can get free of life’s uncertainty. This is not the same thing as being carefree, but it is allowing the inevitable chaos of our lives to occur and to roll with it. This is something that for many people, especially people that have a strong future orientation, will find difficult.

Passive habits are easy to establish and hard to break. Overall, we like routines. We like to do things the way we have done things—the ways that we have discovered (or at least believe) are easiest. I am not arguing against efficiency or that we continually re-invent the wheel. However, some routines we engage in specifically because they are routine and not because they necessarily serve us, other than to make it so that we don’t have to think. These routines for the sake of routine prevent us from experiencing novelty—novelty that would normally have the potential to inspire and awaken us.

Being aware and awake is explicitly not being evaluative and analytical. It is important to observe without judgment. Instead of asking the question “how do I feel?” ask the question “what do I feel?” Taking in one’s experience without trying to analyze the experience as to whether it is good or bad—most experiences are not inherently good or bad until we apply a judgment to them. This mindset also lessens our need to make ourselves feel good in the moment, which often operates as a distraction from a more genuine happiness.

Research has shown that people you regularly engage in mindfulness experience more joy and fulfillment. Mindfulness has been associated with better resistance to stress and finding more meaning in one’s life, less depression and anxiety, and more rewarding, lower conflict social relationships. Mindful bodybuilding, in which one attends to the sensation of the muscles during lifting, has been shown to produce greater results. There is also evidence that mindfulness increases one’s social or emotional intelligence, which in turn can benefit work relationships.
Being mindful does not occur quickly; it takes practice. There are simple things you can do to increase your mindfulness. You can start by becoming aware of your own body; notice the sensation of your body position or the feel of the seat against your butt and your clothes on your body. Deliberately do a routine in a different way and notice what is different about your experience of that activity. Go for a walk and notice the things that you pass—as a cyclist I have the opportunity to notice things that people do not when they drive; you can notice even more when you walk. Meditation is a great way to achieve this state. You can start by taking 5 minutes once a day to sit still and just feel your breathing. Eventually you would ideally engage in mindful meditation, in which you notice and non-judgmentally dismiss thoughts, twice a day for 20 minutes. Try simple ways that introduce more novel stimuli and make you more aware of your experiences, in non-judgmental ways, and you will be on your way to improved mental health and more enduring happiness.