Mindfulness and meditation have received significant attention for their benefits to mental and physical wellbeing. This comprehensive guide delves into the fundamentals of these practices, explains their significance, and provides practical insights and resources to help you get started.
Introduction to mindfulness: where to start
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s happening around us. It is a skill that we naturally possess, and it's more readily available to us when we practise it daily.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness involves bringing awareness to what you're directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions. The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. It’s about observing thoughts and feelings without judgement and learning to respond rather than react.
Mindfulness aims to help you:
Become more self-aware: Notice your thoughts and feelings without being carried away by them.
Feel calmer and less stressed: Cultivate a sense of inner peace.
Feel more able to choose how to respond to your thoughts and feelings: Gain control over your reactions.
Cope with difficult or unhelpful thoughts: Learn to manage negative thinking patterns.
Be kinder towards yourself: Develop self-compassion.
Many people find practising mindfulness helps them manage their day-to-day wellbeing, but it doesn't always work for everyone.
Mindfulness is often thought of in terms of paying attention. Yet equally important is why one is paying attention (intention) and how (attitude). Shapiro et al. (2006) offer a model that integrates the why and how of attention, proposing three core elements of mindfulness: Intention, Attention, and Attitude (IAA).
Intention: This reminds us why we are paying attention. It involves reflecting on our hopes, desires, and aspirations. Explicitly reflecting on our intentions helps us understand what we truly want for ourselves and sets the direction we want to head in.
Attention: This involves seeing clearly what is in the here and now. Mindfulness helps us cultivate attention that is sustained and concentrated, despite our mind’s natural inclination to wander. Attention does not need to be strained and contracted; it can be relaxed alertness that involves clarity and precision without stress or vigilance (Wallace, 2006). This relaxed alertness is vital to cultivating the type of sustained and relaxed attention necessary for mindfulness.
Attitude: How we pay attention is essential to mindfulness. Attention can be controlling and critical, or it can be curious and kind. Mindfulness involves attending with qualities of curiosity, openness, acceptance, and love. This attitude influences the core of our mindful attention, strengthening compassion and acceptance (Siegel, 2007).
What is meditation?
Meditation is a practice centred on exploring our minds. It is not about turning off thoughts or feelings but about observing them without getting caught up in them. Meditation helps to develop mindfulness by training the mind to focus and stay present.
Why should I care? The why and research
An expanding body of research demonstrates that mindfulness and meditation can enhance emotional regulation, reduce stress and anxiety, elevate overall psychological wellbeing, and even boost immune function.
Key mental wellbeing benefits include:
Improved attention and focus: Enhance your ability to concentrate and stay present.
Deepened self-awareness: Gain a profound understanding of your thoughts and emotions.
Enhanced emotion regulation: Learn to manage and respond to your emotions more effectively.
Amplified wellbeing and life satisfaction: Experience heightened happiness and fulfilment.
Reduced stress and anxiety: Mitigate the impact of stress on your daily life.
Mindfulness practice has been shown to benefit immune function (Davidson et al., 2003), lower cortisol levels (Matousek et al., 2010), and improve psychological wellbeing (Keng et al., 2011). Mindfulness training helps reduce rumination (Jha et al., 2007) and mind wandering (Jazaieri et al., 2016). It also helps increase optimism and positive judgment (Kiken & Shook, 2011). A review of 23 studies on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) found that 8 weeks of mindfulness training reduced stress, psychological distress, depression, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and occupational stress while increasing self-compassion, relaxation, sleep quality, and a feeling of personal accomplishment (Baer, 2003).
Scientists at Ohio State University reviewed 56 studies of the long-term effects of mindfulness instruction on attentional control. Training approaches ranged from retreats and feasibility studies, to randomised controlled trials. Retreat and feasibility studies showed increased goal-directed focus and attention to bodily sensations following a mindfulness program. Results from randomised controlled trials with an active control group were indecisive (Mrazek et al., 2012).
How do I practise mindfulness and meditation?
Mindfulness can be practised both formally and informally.
Key Elements of Mindfulness Practice
Observing: Noticing your thoughts, feelings, and sensations without trying to change them.
Labelling: Mentally noting and naming your experiences without judgment.
Non-judgement: Accepting experiences as they are without labelling them as good or bad.
Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditation or body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.
Formal practice
This involves setting aside time specifically for mindfulness exercises such as:
Sitting Meditation: Focusing on the breath, body sensations, or a mantra.
Body Scan: Slowly paying attention to different parts of the body.
Mindful Movement: Engaging in activities like yoga or tai chi with full attention.
Visualisation: Creating mental images to promote relaxation and focus.
Informal practice
This involves integrating mindfulness into daily activities, such as:
Mindful Eating: Paying full attention to the taste, texture, and smell of food.
Mindful Walking: Being aware of the sensation of your feet touching the ground.
Daily Activities: Bringing mindfulness to routine tasks like dishwashing or brushing teeth by fully engaging in the activity without distraction.
Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditation or body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it.
The theory behind mindfulness is that by using various techniques to bring your attention to the present, you can:
Notice how thoughts come and go in your mind. You may learn that they don't have to define who you are, or your experience of the world, and that you can let go of them.
Tune in to what your body is telling you. For example, you might feel tension or anxiety in your body, such as a fast heartbeat, tense muscles, or shallow breathing.
Create space between you and your thoughts. With this space, you can reflect on the situation and react more calmly.
Resources
To deepen your understanding and practice of mindfulness, consider exploring the following resources:
These websites offer a wealth of information, including articles, guided meditations, and courses to help you get started and sustain your mindfulness practice.
By incorporating mindfulness and meditation into your life, you can develop greater awareness, resilience, and a sense of calm amidst the busyness of daily life. Whether through formal meditation or informal daily practices, the journey of mindfulness is about cultivating a state of presence and compassion for yourself and others.
References
References
Baer, R. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. *Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10*(2), 125–143.
Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S. F., et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. *Psychosomatic Medicine, 65*(4), 564–570.
Gratz, K. L., & Tull, M. T. (2010). Emotion regulation as a mechanism of change in acceptance-and mindfulness-based treatments. In R. A. Baer (Ed.), *Assessing mindfulness & acceptance processes in clients: Illuminating the theory & practice of change* (pp. 107–134). Context Press.
Jha, A. P., Krompinger, J., & Baime, M. J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(2), 109–119. https://doi.org/10.3758/CABN.7.2.109
Jazaieri, H., Lee, I. A., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., & Gross, J. J. (2016). A wandering mind is a less caring mind: Daily experience sampling during compassion meditation training. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(1), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1025418
Keng, S. L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011). Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(6), 1041–1056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006
Kiken, L. G., & Shook, N. J. (2011). Looking up: Mindfulness increases positive judgments and reduces negativity bias. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2(4), 425–431. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550610396585
Kiken, L. G., Garland, E. L., Bluth, K., Palsson, O. S., & Gaylord, S. A. (2015). From a state to a trait: Trajectories of state mindfulness in meditation during intervention predict changes in trait mindfulness. Personality and Individual Differences, 81, 41–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.044
Matousek, R. H., Dobkin, P. L., & Pruessner, J. (2010). Cortisol as a marker for improvement in mindfulness-based stress reduction. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 16(1), 13–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2009.06.004
Mrazek, M. D., Smallwood, J., & Schooler, J. W. (2012). Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. Emotion, 12(3), 442–448. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026678
Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2014). A meta-analytic review of the effects of mindfulness meditation on telomerase activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 42, 45–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.12.017
Shapiro, S. L., & Carlson, L. E. (2009). The art and science of mindfulness: Integrating mindfulness into psychology and the helping professions. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11885-000
Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain: Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of well-being. W.W. Norton & Company.
Wallace, B. A. (2006). The attention revolution: Unlocking the power of the focused mind. Wisdom Publications.