Mindful Living: The Way Forward!

  

The last few decades have seen an explosion of mindfulness related literature. There is mindfulness meditation, mindful breathing, mindful eating and so on. Anyone trying to search on how to manage stress on the internet is likely to come across the term mindfulness, for sure. Yet, a lot of this information available on internet does not clarify the basic tenets of mindfulness.

Origin of Mindfulness

The essence of mindfulness derives from Buddhist and ancient Hindu philosophies like Vipassana which had been practiced by monks and ascetics for thousands of years. The term is loosely derived from the Pali word ‘sati’ or Sanskrit word ‘smrti’ which means ‘remembrance or reminiscence or calling upon mind’. The most popular of all mindfulness exercises, mindful breathing is derived from Anapanasati, is the quintessential form of Buddhist meditation and has been mentioned in different sutras. Anapana means inhalation and exhalation, sati means mindfulness so mindfulness of breathing.

In the Western hemisphere, it has been pioneered by Jon Kabat-Jin, an American professor emeritus of medicine at University of Massachusetts Medical School and creator of the ‘Stress Reduction Clinic’ there. It has been later adapted into many forms of psychological therapies, mainly Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to name a few. Any discussion about mindfulness is incomplete without mentioning Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who had spread mindfulness across the globe through his books and retreats.

Why we need Mindful Living?

The last few years have renewed interest in mindfulness because our conventional ways of dealing with life’s challenges were proving inadequate. Look around you, we are living comfortable lives, have not just adequate food but multiple options to cater to our taste buds, fashionable clothes and options to buy them from the comfort of our houses, multiple gadgets to keep us engaged, entertain us, superfast internet which can connect you around the world in seconds, to name a few of the comforts surrounding us and yet we are not able to enjoy our lives or find meaning in the things we do. Our relationships feel hollow, our hearts empty and our lives purposeless. It is, therefore not a big surprise that today there is mental health crisis all around us. 

To make matters worse, the COVID pandemic increased our vulnerabilities by exposing our fault lines. Social isolation, loss of loved ones, not able to grieve properly, fear of contracting the virus, increased unpredictability of life made a challenging situation even more difficult to deal with. A 2022 WHO report mention an increase by 25% in anxiety and depression among people. And we doctors are no different. Hence, we must adapt to new ways of dealing with lives’ challenges.

Taking a step back 

There are many different explanations given for mindfulness. One simple one that I prefer is mindfulness is being aware or paying attention, on purpose, to the present moment in a non-judgmental, open and curious way. Each word matter here.

The first and foremost is being aware of ourselves, our bodies, our thoughts and emotions, our responses, our activities. This awareness is not free-floating or daydreaming. We are aware or paying attention, on purpose, consciously, to the present moment.  We have many quotes on internet on present moment like ‘The time is now’ ‘the present moment is the gift’ etc. Now, it is easy to be present, but what is difficult is staying present. We are consistently being pulled into the past (failures, regrets, nostalgia) or the future (worries, wishes, fantasies) and when we are constantly comparing our present with either our past or our future, we may feel inadequate or insufficient of our present, hence we may be anxious or restless or absent-minded or appear ‘zoned out’. We won’t be able to enjoy our lives for which we have worked so hard.

Another component is being non-judgmental. Let’s get the fact straight. We live in a judgmental world. We are constantly placing things, objects, and people into dichotomous categories- good or bad, positive or negative. However, soon this judgment becomes personal and before we know, we are judging ourselves for having certain kinds of thoughts, for feeling in a certain way, for having anxiety or fear or guilt or even some sort of defects or deformity or illness. We may criticize ourselves for things beyond our control and perpetually have a sense of ‘not good enough’. The skill is to become non-judgmental, how to take a step backwards, into noticing than becoming.

With non-judgment comes openness, being open to ourselves, our deepest fears, our emotions without becoming overpowered by them. We learn to enjoy the range of emotions gifted to us by nature, not just constantly trying to feel good. Openness goes hand in hand with compassion and that brings acceptance.

We practice all these skills with curiosity, like a child who is exploring the world for the first time. We start seeing the world in a different light, finding joy in usual activities. Our lives become meaningful to live, just than a race to finish and win.

Being here and Now

All this help us in developing a powerful mental tool- Psychological Flexibility- when we are able to see situations differently instead of getting hooked by our minds and take actions towards a valued direction, even under the most trying circumstances. 

Remember the times we felt stuck or trapped inside a pattern and did not know how to get out of it despite trying everything or the times we wished to get over a bad past and yet we kept going back there again and again or why we ended up having same type of relationship patterns where we missed the red flag signs. 

Like I said in the beginning, times have changed so have our issues and challenges and many of our proven methods to deal with these challenges are proving inadequate. Psychological flexibility improves our adaptability and resilience to this ever-changing world and its vagaries so that we can cope better with changing times.

Dr. Suhasini Das