Experience the Benefits of Mindfulness in the Everyday

If our days rely on a framework of multi-tasking and a constant compulsion to judge the value of every person and experience we encounter, where does mindfulness fit in? The concept of “mindfulness” can be found on almost any self-development blog or social media site, but what does it actually mean, and how can this buzzword transform into a practice that actually benefits our daily life?

Mindfulness is an attitude or a state of being, rather than a focus on attaining feelings of positivity or happiness (though, these feelings often occur as a side effect from the long term practice of mindfulness). The key tenets of mindfulness are practicing a state of non-judgement, maintaining patience, keeping a child’s mind, upholding trust, accepting situations, letting go, and acting with compassion. In her article, Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D. describes mindfulness as a “moment to moment attention to experience with a stance of open curiosity”. In other words, mindfulness can be described as a practice of focused single-tasking, without judging the situation or tying it to a greater narrative. Smalley explains that mindfulness can be both a state and a trait: a temporary state of being that can be exercised, and a personality trait that may be derived from genetics or environmental factors. Other expressions of mindfulness may include pausing to consider a situation as it is, rather than delving into anticipated stress that may not truly relate to the situation on hand. Adapting this approach may sounds like a tall order, but the benefits of mindfulness might be worth it. More and more researchers are taking a look at the science behind it.

How do mindfulness and well-being relate?

Several studies in recent years have explored the relationship between mindfulness and physical health or psychological characteristics like stress, immune response, anxiety, attention, and pain. Through monitoring brain patterns with MRIs, researchers understand that mindfulness can induce slower brain waves, indicating a state of relaxation.

Researcher David Creswell ran a study on individuals that actively engaged in mindfulness practice. By monitoring the frontal area of subjects’ brains through MRI technology, he concluded that these individuals were better able to recognize facial emotions. This ability can be linked to a capacity to quiet the responses of the amygdala, which can help us identify and consequently cope with, emotional issues.

“Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.” - Thich Nhat Hanh”

Oxford researcher John Teasdale looks at mindfulness and its links to treating depression. He uses a program called Mindfulness Base Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) to help patients cope with different triggers and situations, helping them to manage depression in a more active way. Jon Kabat-Zinn employs a similar practice, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), to treat a range of anxiety disorders.

Furthermore, research is currently underway to show possible connections between mindfulness and pain management. These studies explore whether if the sense of pain is mentally separated from the story of the pain, this can lessen the experience of the pain in patients.

Now that you’re sold on the scientific benefits of mindfulness, how do you practice it in your daily life? One useful strategy that’s particularly beneficial for emotionally-charged situations is the RAIN technique. The acronym RAIN was first coined by Michele McDonald and it is an easy-to-remember four-step tool for practicing mindfulness:

Recognize: Notice what you are feeling. Try to identify the feeling, or combinations of feelings and their traits.

Accept: Allow this emotion to live on its own. Do not judge it or tie it to a story about who you are, or the situation you are in.

Investigate (with kindness): Explore the emotion. Look into its nooks and crannies. Identify it’s magnitude, what it’s connected to, and any physical sensations that accompany it.

Not Identify: Do not take the emotions personally. Do not let them define who you are or your sense of worth. Keep this emotion at an arm’s length. Create space between who you are and the emotions that you are feeling.

Here’s a few common situations where applying a mindfulness technique could work:

Mindfulness at work:

Your co-worker is upset with a report you created and does not feel that you hit the objective of the task you were given.

Emotional reaction:

You feel angry, embarrassed, and stressed. You worry if your job will be at stake, and if your reputation at work will be negatively impacted.

Mindfulness response technique:

Identify the emotions you are feeling. If possible, step away from your desk for a few minutes and grab a glass of water. When you return to your desk, feel free to write down your emotions or say them in your head. Know that these emotions are both normal and appropriate. However, remind yourself that these emotions do not make you a lesser employee, or unfit to complete the task on hand. Forgive yourself for feeling this way and accept the situation. Forgive your co-worker for their emotional reaction. Write down your next steps and envision how it would look like to come back to the situation without fear, guilt, and resentment.

Mindfulness at home:

You’ve just returned home from a long day and you plop down on the couch and turn on the TV. Your loved one enters the room and asks for help on a task you particularly do not feel like doing.

Emotional reaction:

You feel annoyed and frustrated with your loved one. You don’t understand why they need help with this task at this moment, or why they can’t do it themselves. You feel resentful at their reliance on you, and sorry for yourself that you cannot rest without interruption.

Mindfulness response:

Allow yourself to notice your annoyance and resentment. Do not yell, complain, or enter into a narrative that this person is always requiring your time and energy. Allow those emotions to exist, but do not commit yourself to them. Think about what your loved one is asking and why. Think about the different ways you can respond with a neutral, or even loving tone to let them know a positive way to move forward.

Mindfulness in traffic:

You’re late to work and stuck in a seemingly endless line of cars. No one seems to be letting you change lanes.

Emotional reaction:

You feel that the world is against you and that you’ll never make it on time to your destination. You feel ashamed for being late, and angry for the unanticipated delay.

Mindfulness response:

Adopt a traffic-specific mindfulness mantra. Consistent sayings can help us identify patterns in our emotional responses, and trigger a mindfulness reaction. Try coming up with your own saying, or adopt one of these, “I’m not stuck in traffic, I am the traffic”, or “I honor my emotions, and let them be free to pass over me”, or, “I acknowledge my feelings, and choose to move forward with consciousness.”

Whatever technique you choose, keep in mind that this is a lifelong practice. Employing mindfulness is not a skill that can be learned and fully-adopted within a day or week. It must be repeated and nurtured in order to become a more permanent part of your behavior.