MIND MOVES:The practice of mindfulness can be surprisingly beneficial, writes TONY BATES
OVER THE past five years of this column we have dipped in and out of the subject of mindfulness and its growing influence in the mental health field. The considerable interest in mindfulness generated by the first international conference being held today in Killarney – Compassion and Presence: Spiritual care for the living and dying – suggests that it’s time for yet another one of those “dips” into the topic.
Today’s conference features some of the finest exponents of mindfulness in the world, who have been exploring its benefits in the field of healthcare. One of the speakers, Jon Kabat-Zinn – best known for turning mindfulness into an eight-week teachable stress-reduction programme – will be speaking in Dublin tomorrow evening.
My own appreciation for the practice of mindfulness is both personal and professional. The simple idea of stopping and taking time to be present to whatever is happening in my life, in myself, in my relationships with others, has proven to be surprisingly beneficial. It hasn’t changed me in any fundamental way, just made me a little more aware of how I am and where I am at any given moment in time.
Like other humans I live a lot of life on automatic. I perceive reality through a set of verbal lenses that categorise and evaluate everything, rather than experience the world as it unfolds in the here and now. I put great faith in my mind, when in truth it doesn’t always know what is good for me.
The simple discipline of taking a moment to breathe consciously rouses me from my mental second-hand existence (which we tend to regard as “normality”) and puts me back in touch with a larger, more vital reality.
Establishing a daily discipline in the practice of mindfulness took several years to achieve. I noticed a pattern that fascinated me as I alternately dodged and kept my daily practice with the present moment.
It was never easy to get into; I could think of any number of good reasons to avoid sitting awhile and simply resting in the here and now. I was afraid to stop, afraid of what might be lurking in my psyche.
But within a couple of minutes of practising the simple act of breathing in and breathing out and letting myself rest in the present moment, I’m happy that I’ve coaxed myself to take this time.
The attitude one takes towards “sitting” and breathing mindfully, whether for a couple of minutes or longer, is crucially important. You will run into a whole heap of trouble if you expect some specific outcome from the practice; if you think you should be relaxed, feel good, achieve some profound insight or be lifted out of any distress you may be feeling, you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration.
Mindfulness doesn’t change what is real, it allows you to see what is real. It brings you into contact with whatever is going on and invites you to accept whatever is happening. If what’s happening is that there are some really good things unfolding in your life, mindfulness awakens a renewed appreciation for your life.
If what you encounter in the present moment is some pain you’ve been trying to keep hidden from yourself, mindfulness invites you simply to accept this experience without judgment and with a lot of self-compassion.
Professionally, I conducted several mindfulness courses in a hospital setting with people who had long-standing mental health problems. These people were well acquainted with mental pain. What this practice taught them was a very gentle non-verbal way of being present to their pain, without being overwhelmed by it.
They discovered that while they could rarely “get rid” of unwanted thoughts and feelings, they could change how they related to them. And they discovered that as they learned to hold their troubles in awareness, with compassion, their symptoms softened and they saw more clearly what they were all about.
Working through Jon Kabat-Zinn’s programme together I noticed how the practice redefined my relationship with them. I was the group leader but I wasn’t trying to make them better, figure them out or “cure” them in any way. The practice made us all equals; there were no “experts” in the room, just novice mystics trying to find our way in the darkness together.
As a novice therapist, I valued empathy above all other interventions in counselling a vulnerable person.
Mindfulness has taught me how to be present and remain calm in the face of other people’s distress.
I am less focused on a person’s particular symptoms or feelings and more in touch with the larger context of their lives, their struggle to keep it all together however crazy it looks, their need for defences and their willingness to get up every day, even when life has dealt them some cruel blows.
Recovery is a poorly understood principle that we’ve all signed up to in our current health policies. If it means anything it surely includes a capacity to stop running from each other and a willingness to be present to each other in a genuine life-affirming way.
That’s not something we can just turn on. It takes practice and for me mindfulness gives us a methodology for at least moving in the direction of this ideal.
Jon Kabat-Zinn will speak in D4 Ballsbridge Inn (formally Jurys) on Wednesday, 29th April at 7.30pm-9.30pm. For further information go online at www.seminars.ie or call 01- 2875524
Tony Bates is founding director of Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health (www.headstrong.ie). Contact tbates@irishtimes.com