Being Mindful

Mindfulness is a skill.  We can train it, like a muscle. When we are able to train the mind to be still and listen, we find a freedom in that stillness.  That is the inherent promise in mindfulness— not that it will make us feel a certain way (e.g., calm), but that it will help us realize that we can decide whether or not to respond to the different impulses, sensations, emotions, and thoughts we may have. Moreover, we have a choice about how to respond.  Learning to be mindful allows us to discover new power and possibility we didn’t know were there. If you’re new to mindfulness, The Mindfulness Solution by Ron Siegel is a good introductory text.

A quick note about cultural appropriation: Eastern traditions in South and East Asia have practice mindfulness for thousands of years and these practices are interwoven with a variety of spiritual beliefs and practices.  There are also Western traditions (e.g., meditative prayer) that also learned to focus attention, but not in such elaborated ways. Western behavioral medicine has only recently taken up mindfulness as a technique, and this does not import the richness of Eastern spiritual traditions.  Know that you don’t have to adopt any specific belief systems to benefit from a mindfulness practice. Also, know that if you find mindfulness helpful, then you may want to look outside of Western psychotherapy to learn more.  One place to start is Khantipalo Miles book, Buddhism Explained. If you want to delve more into the intersections of Eastern and Western ideas, try Mark Epstein’s book Thoughts Without a Thinker.