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Five Basic Factors Of Mindfulness

In mindfulness studies, there are five basic factors that tend to comprise mindf
ulness:
Nonreactivity to inner experience (e.g., perceiving feelings and emotions wi
thout having to react to them);
observing/noticing/attending to sensations, perceptions, thoughts, feelings
(e.g., remaining present with sensations and feelings even when they are unpleas
ant or painful);
acting with awareness/not on automatic pilot, concentration/nondistraction (
e.g., breaking or spilling things because of carelessness, not paying attention,
or thinking of something else);
describing/labeling with words (e.g., easily putting beliefs, opinions, and
expectations into words);
nonjudgmental of experience (e.g., criticizing oneself for having irrational
or appropriate emotions).
Almost every culture and religion have practices that encourage and help people
to develop awareness of the present moment or mindfulness including meditation,
prayer, yoga, tai chi and qui quong. These practices share the common intent to
consciously focus awareness in a very specific way. Siegel writes: Direct expe
rience in the present moment has been described as a fundamental part of Buddhis
t, Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish and Taoist teaching. Mindfulness is not ass
ociated with any one religious orientation nor does it conflict with any.
Research has shown mindfulness to significantly improve a wide range of conditio
ns from borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating d
isorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders. It has shown t
o be helpful in the prevention of relapse with chronic depression and substance
abuse. I know that it has sure changed my life dramatically for the better as i
t helped me recover from depression and a serious brain injury resulting from a
suicide attempt. It can your change your life for the better too!
It seems like everywhere you turn these days someone is singing the praises of m
editation, including me. Science has only fairly recently been able to validate
the amazing benefits of this ancient practice with technology.
The positive neurological and psychological effects of meditation are numerous.
Meditation Helps Preserve An Aging Brain One study found that long-term medi
tators had younger looking and functioning brains than non-meditators as they ag
ed.
Meditation Reduces Activity in the Brain s Me Center Research determined that mi
ndfulness meditation decreases activity in the brain s default mode network (DMN).
The DMN is responsible for the monkey mind chatter, mind-wandering, and self-refe
rential thoughts.
The Effects of Meditation Rival Antidepressants for Depression, Anxiety A me
ta-analysis found that meditation reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety equ
ivalent to antidepressants.
Meditation Causes Volume Changes in Key Brain Areas A Harvard study found th
at eight weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) increased cortical t
hickness in the hippocampus, which governs learning and memory, and in certain p
arts of the brain dealing with emotion regulation and self-referential processin
g. The study also confirmed decreases in amygdala size, which is the brain s fear
and anxiety control center.
Meditation Improves Concentration and Attention One study found that just a
couple of weeks of meditation training helped people s focus and memory during the
verbal reasoning section of the GREs.
Meditation Reduces Anxiety Research has shown that mindfulness meditation ca
n reduce anxiety by mediating changes through the brain regions associated with
thoughts about the self. Mindfulness meditation has also proven helpful in reduc
ing social anxiety disorder.
What Is Meditation?
A lot of people have this idea that meditation means doing nothing mentally and
emptying the mind of all thought. That s not true. It s not about suppressing though
t. Meditation isn t about what you think or don t think. It s about learning to observ
e and settle your mind.
Meditation isn t about thinking or not thinking. It s about learning to calm your mi
nd.
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Meditation is allowing thoughts to arise as they will, becoming aware of the thi
nking, observing it without attaching to or following it, letting it go, and ret
urning to a state of mental calmness. Over time, your mind will become more sett
led and thought will slow down during a session. Because of a process known as f
amiliarization, the more the mind is in contact with a mental quality, the quick
er it can return to it. With repetition and consistency, your brain makes neurop
lastic changes that strengthen the calm neuronal pathways so that they become th
e go to norm.
Meditation isn t necessarily a religious or spiritual practice, although it can be
for some people. It s a mental health tool. It s learning to relax your mind, but a
t the same time increasing awareness.
In his book, Joy on Demand: The Art of Discovering the Happiness Within, Chade-M
eng Tan describes it like this:
Pretend you have a snow globe that you are constantly shaking. If I ask you
to settle the snow globe, what do you do? You put it on the table , or the floor
, or any other stationary surface. Once the snow globe is settled, then over tim
e the water becomes still, the snowflakes fall to the bottom, and the snow globe
becomes calm and clear at the same time. Settling the mind is similar. To settl
e the mind simply means resting it so that it approaches some degree of stillnes
s.
Three Ways To Calm Your Mind
Calming the mind has two basic elements: mental stillness and attention to the p
resent moment. A settled mind is relaxed but simultaneously alert. As long as yo
u re consciously bringing your awareness repeatedly back into the current moment,
you re getting brain benefits.
Tan suggests that none of us can ultimately settle our minds. All we can do is c
reate the conditions conducive to a calm mental state and allow the mind to calm
itself. He offers three basic methods for seasoned meditators and newbies alike
:
Anchoring
Anchoring is the practice of bringing your attention back to a chosen object. I
f your attention wanders away (and it will), gently bring it back to your anchor
time and time again. Like a ship anchored in a body of water stays close to the
site of the anchor, your mind stays close to your chosen object despite any oth
er mental activity going on. The most obvious and common anchor is the breath. H
owever, you can choose to focus on anything, like your body, a sensory experienc
e such as a sight, sound, physical touch, or internal body sensation.
Resting
Resting the mind is exactly what you think it is. Resting means to cease all men
tal work or activity in order to relax. It s actually a skill and not that easy to
do at first. To rest your mind all you do is sit down, relax, and do nothing.
Tan suggests that you imagine your mind resting on your breath the same way a but
terfly rests gently on a flower and using the mantra, There is nowhere to go and n
othing to do for this one moment, except to rest. He conveys that resting is an i
nstinct you already know how to do. The idea here is to make it a conscious skil
l.
Being
A third method for settling your mind is being. In this practice, you shift from
doing to just being. It means not doing anything in particular and fully allowi
ng yourself to experience the present moment. Tan says, You can think of it as no
n-doing, or sitting without agenda or just simply sitting. A key ingredient of be
ing is knowing. As long as your attention is in the present moment and you know
you re sitting, you re doing it right. It s about intention.
Daily Basic Training
Tan recommends the following five-minute daily practice to explore the above met
hods to see which is your favorite. There is no right or wrong here. What s right
is whatever is right for you that day.
Setup Sit in any posture in which you are comfortable, relaxed, and alert. Y
ou can keep your eyes open or closed.
Anchoring (1 minute) Bring your attention to your breath or some other ancho
r of your choosing. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back.
Resting (1 minute) Rest your mind. Have a relaxed but alert mind.
Being (1 minute) Shift from doing to being. Sitting without any agenda fully
experiencing the present moment.
Freestyle (2 minutes) Practice any of the three methods or switch between th
em.

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