Control Your Mind Instead of Your Mind Controlling You!
Which one are you, Mindful or Mind Full? Unfortunately, most of us have minds that are full and spend less time being aware of what is happening in our present moment (Mindfulness). Our busy lives create busy minds full of things to do on our check lists, emotions that we are unable to attend to, worries and “what if” thinking about our future, and ruminating thoughts about behaviors we should or shouldn’t have done from our past. Living mindlessly (without awareness) can increase our stress, decrease focus and concentration, decrease our ability to listen and communicate effectively with others, and make us more emotionally reactive. Learning to be more Mindful starts by changing the way we view ourselves, others, and the world around us.
So, what is Mindfulness? Is it Meditation? Not exactly. Meditation is actually a type of Mindfulness that is used to train and focus the mind. It is something we do over a specified period of time ranging from just a few minutes to a few hours. Our attention is like a muscle and it needs to be exercised. There is a lot of research about the benefits of meditation and I encourage others to try it, even for just a few minutes per day. It can aid us in being more Mindful. Mindfulness, however, is slightly different. It is something we can do all the time. It is the skill of non-judgmental awareness and acceptance of our present moment experience. It is increasing our awareness of our thoughts, emotions, behaviors or physical sensations our body is experiencing in the moment and just noticing them without judging or reacting to them. When we notice them and allow them to be there, without evaluating them as good or bad, we are able to see our choices more clearly and can respond in a more effective way.
You may be thinking that you do this already and you are able to focus on the present moment. Often times we think we are present and focused on only the one thing in front of us, such as being fully present when conversing with another person. However, if we really stop and pay attention, we may find that we are actually distracted by our thoughts or opinions about the conversation or the other person. Additionally, our emotions may be distracting us, as well, with urges to interrupt or end the conversation. Maybe you’ve become distracted due to a text, phone call, or email you just received. Many of us pride ourselves in being multitaskers and think we get more done in a day than the person who does not multi-task. According to research published in Psychology Today, we actually do not have the ability to do more than one cognitive task at a time which means that rather than multi-tasking we are task-switching. This means the brain has to go back and forth rapidly leading to decreased productivity, increase in errors, and decreased efficiencies ("The True Cost Of Multi-Tasking").
Mindfulness is a choice and it’s a skill we learn to do over time with patience and practice like learning a foreign language. It is also experiential which means it is difficult to explain in words and is something we need to experience for ourselves. To get started follow these six guidelines:
1. Become aware of your feelings.
2. Identify and label your feelings without reacting to them.
3. View your feelings in a non-judgmental way.
4. Consider your options for action (don’t avoid, run, or be impulsive)
5. Take action by not reacting.
6. Step back and be in the moment.
Give it a try! The only thing you have to lose is stress, worry, and rumination!
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Reference: The True Cost of Multi-Tasking. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-wise/201209/the-true-cost-multi-tasking