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Mindfulness: what it is and how to practice it every day
By Naturale Bio
It is one of the most searched for and used words - sometimes inappropriately - of recent years: “mindfulness”, a complex concept contained in this English term. But what is it and what does it really mean?
This approach to existence has ancient roots in the Buddhist religion and Zen practices, but was codified in the 1970s in the United States by a scientist, the biologist Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Kabat-Zinn has given an official definition:mindfulness is the ability of the mind to be totally aware, lucid and immersed in the present moment, without however any type of desire to judge the moment itself or oneself.
Being able to practice mindfulness, therefore, would mean being able to live every experience in the moment in which it presents itself, without superstructures, fears or prejudices. We should not remain anchored to the past, to the memories that that situation evokes in us, nor project expectations towards the future and the results of that action or context.
Experiencing the famous “here and now” with gratitude, objectivity, awareness and fullness. Simple? No, not at all, but certainly an interesting and positive perspective on living your life to the fullest.
Mindfulness, between Buddhism and behaviorism
The human mind is naturally inclined to correlate facts and events, emotions and sensations, both positive and negative, creating complex superstructures.
In this sense, every memory, gesture, sound, smell, that we hear in a precise moment, triggers in the brain a chain of reactions linked to the past and of desires and expectations towards the future.
Buddhism has, among its conceptual bases, precisely the desire to stop this "stormy sea" of thoughts and desires: by managing to turn off desire, it would be possible to control emotions, in particular by stemming or eliminating the pain.
This is whythe concept behind mindfulness has its roots in Buddhist principles: being immersed in and fully aware of the present moment means forgetting every frill, every anchorage of that moment with our past and every projection about the future.
Mindful meditation and mindfulness
One of the Buddhist practices that implements mindfulness is the so-called “mindful meditation”: it is a moment of meditation wherethe individual focuses exclusively on breathing, a deep and diaphragmatic.
Obviously there will be moments of distraction in which the mind will spontaneously begin to "think": there is no need to be alarmed or judge yourself (no "I can't do it, I'm not capable, it doesn't work, I keep thinking, I keep getting distracted" etc.), but simply start concentrating on your breathing again. Little by little, it should become easier and easier.
Applications of mindfulness in psychotherapy
This meditative technique has also had various applications in the therapeutic field, as has the mindfulness approach itself. In practice, the therapist encourages the patient not to analyze his own thoughts and feelings - as in traditional psychotherapy - but to distance himself from them, to deprive them of their power.
Thoughts and emotions are seen as something additional and foreign, while we normally tend to believe that they "are our own thoughts and beliefs": on the contrary, thoughts, fears, beliefs, goals, are all things that we "have", which characterize us but do not define us. We are not our fears, we are not our emotions, we simply have fears and emotions: this is the cornerstone of mindfulness-based therapy.
There would even be scientific evidence at a neurological level of the well-being generated by mindful meditation on the body: lower inflammatory indices, lower production of substances linked to stress, reductions in states of anxiety and many others.
How to apply the principle of mindfulness in everyday life
It seems like a complex discussion but, in reality, it is possible to start approaching this life perspective in a simple way, in small daily actions.
Let's take a concrete example: a small gesture like preparing and enjoying a healthy breakfast is often ruined by a thousand interruptions and negativity that we impose on ourselves. Watching the news on TV, scrolling social media on your cell phone or, worse, starting to read work emails very early in the morning in front of our coffee: it's wrong.
Let's take a moment of awareness and enjoy a colorful açai bowl or a slice of cake, we savor every flavour, we pay attention to every texture, we deeply inhale the good scent of our coffee, we perceive the warmth of our home, the comfort of clean clothes… when was the last time we were so attentive to these little things?
The same principle can be applied to any moment of the day:
- enjoy a 10 minute walk with the sun on your skin during your lunch break, raising your head to admire the bright blue of the sky;
- notice the softness of our dog or cat's fur while we caress it;
- listen with an attentive ear to the particular and recognizable sound of the voice of our loved ones;
- perceive the space and weight of our body when we lie down in our comfortable bed in the evening…
Mindfulness is the first step towards another closely related and incredibly important dimension of life: gratitude.
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