What is Mindfulness?

I gave this interview recently and thought I’d share it…

How do you define mindfulness? How does it differ from meditation or relaxation?
In the Eastern contemplative traditions, there is great value placed on cultivating your mental capacity. Meditation is the Western word for practices used for mental cultivation. The two most significant mental qualities to be cultivated are serenity and wisdom.

The quality of serenity (sometimes called calm abiding) is cultivated in conjunction with compassion, and developed through a range of Concentrative meditations. One of the important concentrative meditations is Metta meditation (loving-kindness), which is a contemplation.

The quality of wisdom is cultivated through the penetrative insight gained in Mindfulness meditation – often called Insight meditation.

So Mindfulness is one aspect of meditation and concentration is the other aspect of meditation- much like two ends of a seesaw. Mindfulness meditation is a receptive awareness noticing everything in the senses. It’s like having a big broad flashlight that shines light everywhere. Concentrative meditations are single-pointed, focusing our attention on one object – (the breath, a visualisation, sound, mantra, the body, a contemplation) much more like a laser light shining brightly and sharply in one single place.
In the West, in this era, many people don’t really understand this, so lump everything under mindfulness – even though technically it is not.

When we meditate, we move between the two types of meditation most of the time, using concentrative meditation to train, steady and quiet our minds and develop equanimity in the face of whatever arises, and mindfulness to allow insight and clarity to open up in the spaciousness thus created.

In my experience, some people have a natural tendency toward mindfulness or concentration, with specific preferences for types of objects used for concentrative meditations, often related to personality type. Mindfulness meditation is like a receptive moving focus, teaching us to calmly open up to all that is present, both in the mundane world and in the inner world.

All meditations from all traditions aim to develop these qualities of serenity and wisdom. Serenity leads to joy, and to compassion. Insight leads us to see things the way they really are rather than through the perspective of the stories we tell ourselves, and this leads to wisdom. All meditations help bring our attention back into the senses – and away from comparisons, ruminations about the past and worries about the future.

Relaxation on the other hand, is about blobbing out in your mind, whereas mindfulness is about staying present and gently alert.

Why do people come to mindfulness?
Most people come to mindfulness initially to develop a sense of calm which we develop through being present. To quieten the chatter of the mind, to relieve stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, worry or, as many world stage athletes and performers do, they learn mindfulness to remain alert and focused and enhance performance. However, people soon discover the real benefits of mindfulness come from being kind to self, and then gaining insight and wisdom.

Have you noticed mindfulness rising in popularity?
Yes, of course. When I started the mindfulness Centre in 2006, no one knew what mindfulness was, and now everyone has heard of it – albeit with differing degrees of understanding.

What does a good mindfulness session look like for you, what does it involve? How long should it be?
This is very different depending on what you have chosen.

There are different guidelines set by different people/bodies and for different reasons. For instance, when we learn mindfulness it might be as simple as learning to pay attention when you clean your teeth – or to the taste of your food or drink. These are informal meditations that you do in daily life to bring your focus into the senses. Or you may start practising a sitting meditation or body scan which is a formal meditation. It depends on who is learning and what for. Could be 5 mins or 40 mins.

The important thing to remember is not to confuse feeling nicer with being better. While some meditation sessions feel more enjoyable or less, they are not so much good or bad – which is a mental judgment. They are simply more or less enjoyable.

Do you recommend setting goals and reflecting on thoughts, feelings and behaviours before and after completing a mindfulness session?
If you are doing a formal mindfulness practice – ie meditating for 20-30-40 mins, I would not recommend setting goals first. Mindfulness is about awareness, so the process invites us to simply be aware and gain insight from what we notice- this is the nature of self-reflection. Not pondering or having a dialogue with self, rather simply noticing what thoughts, what ideas come when you are trying to focus on a meditation object like the breath or the body. It can be very helpful to write these reflections afterwards.

What should I aim to get out of the meditation sessions?
Learning to stay present, focus on a meditation object, notice when your attention has been pulled away, without judgment of self, bring the focus back- then at the end remember the patterns you noticed – eg when your attention did get pulled away from the object of meditation – as it does maybe 10 times a minute when you first start.

As we develop, we may seek or cultivate serenity or joy. You may seek to have insight into what is happening for you on any level- physical, emotional, mental, and for some, spiritual.