The myths and paradigms about mindfulness: what is not mindfulness!

Today's episode is about The myths and paradigms about mindfulness: what is not mindfulness! Several articles about the definition and origin of Mindfulness indicate that this term has been used for hundreds of years, but not before the late 19th century was explicitly connected with meditation practice.

In 1881, Professor Thomas William Rhys Davids translated the word Satis from the Pali language into the English language as Mindfulness. Although it refers to memory, it is used independently as thought, the activity of the mind, and the constant presence of what the mind is generating.

Thus, the term mindfulness already existed in the Buddhist context before reaching western culture. According to the meaning that the Buddhist culture gives to the term Satis, it is remembering, but it refers to memory when used with meditation.

One of the most profound myths and paradigms about the term mindfulness is to relate it in one way or another to the concept of religion, spirituality, or some religious sect.

However, thanks to the work done by Dr. John Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine and founder of Mindfulness-based stress reduction, since 1976, the approach to Mindfulness has changed.

Although Dr. Kabat-Zinn incorporated various meditation techniques from Buddhist translations into his Mindfulness-based stress reduction program, he uses Mindfulness as a secular practice applied to science through scientific lenses.

According to a mindfulness-based stress reduction program at the University of Massachusetts, Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare, more than 22,000 individuals have been treated for and received some form of therapy-based Mindfulness as cognitive therapy to treat depression. Many studies confirm and recognize the benefits individuals obtain both in the psychological and physical fields; therefore, they disconnect the term mindfulness from its religious roots.

But, what does Mindfulness means? In general, mindfulness practices are very likely to deliberately involve the effort to stabilize attention on specific physical sensations and emotional stimuli, reestablish and sustain the present moment and keep the mind away from wandering.

This deep commitment to the here and now is combined with an attitude of acceptance and openness. To allow thoughts and emotions to come and go without applying a cognitive assessment.

Focused attention on what the breath is helps us create awareness of what we are thinking and the sensations we are having in our physical body in the present moment.

The psychologist and science journalist from Harvard University, Daniel Coleman, said Mindfulness refers to what moves inside your mind where you notice that it is wandering. So it's like monitoring what you do and where your mind is going. And meditation is one of the ways to train mindfulness attention. He also cites that among the most notorious benefits of mindfulness practices are to lower the stress levels produced by the hormone cortisol, promote and enhance the immune system's response, elevate mood, sharpen focus, delivered attention, and help us recover more quickly from any stressful situation.

After reading one of John Kabat-Zinn's books, "Mindfulness for Beginners: Claiming the Present Moment and Your Life." I learned that Mindfulness is not a cold, hard practice, clinical or analytical therapy of one having to pursue something; I also learned that meditation means peace of mind, relaxation through the direct appreciation of our breath. 

To practice Mindfulness, instead of doing it simply as a technique, a therapy, or as one more task that one has to perform within our hectic day, I would say that the first thing to do is understand the concept as a way of being.

 

Mindfulness is living, recognizing that life is changeable, that the awareness we put in the present moment is what makes life worth living, moment after moment after moment. Mindfulness is a powerful vehicle to carry out that transformation and possible healing within each of us and the world.

 

Thank you for listening and stay in tune for the next topic in two weeks, Are there effects of mindfulness on the human cognitive, nervous, and immune systems? 

 

Music for this podcast:

 

Deliberate Thought by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3635-deliberate-thought Li