Much is said about the term ‘mindfulness’. Yet is a simple skill and involves noticing what is happening whilst it is happening. It involves the use of all of the five senses – hearing (listening to the sounds in the environment), sight (taking in what is happening around us and noticing things through our sight), touch (noticing how our feet are placed against the ground), smell (taking in and really connecting with the smells around us) and taste (by lingering and really tasting and noticing the flavours of foods).
The key here is maintaining this state of mind and going against the grain of what is called the ‘Default Mode Network’. This network includes structures that are located down the mid-line of the brain and from the front to the back. When we have nothing to do, it is these parts of the brain that kick in and where our mind starts to wonder towards problems that may be affecting us.
The Default Mode Network has a key role in creating our sense of self and who we are, whilst also looking out for problems in order to keep us safe. It also allows us to project ourselves into the past or the future.
We may notice that at times in our life when we have had a meal, we simply lose track of time and before we know it, we have cleaned our plates of food and then realised that we had lost track of time. Usually during these times, we may think about problems we have come across or things that are a risk to us. This is the Default Mode Network (DMN) at play, and it can become highly sensitised the greater the number of trauma experiences we have in our lives. Repeated traumatic experiences can develop a set of internal narratives within us that attach to the DMN way of thinking, and which can place us as being ‘incapable’, ‘hopeless’ or’ under attack’. The DMN is therefore a part of our survival strategy and has been so effective that we are still alive as a species on this ancient planet.
What Does Practising Mindfulness Give Us?
Mindfulness when practised on a daily basis should give us the mental space to be able to step back and reflect. This means that it gives us the space to be able to choose how we respond to a situation. Mindfulness also allows us the space to be able to be compassionate to ourselves since when we suffer, it becomes so easy to get caught up into the suffering that encompasses and wraps around us. Mindfulness allows us to create the space so that we can be self-compassionate and develop new internal dialogues that are more forgiving to us, acknowledge our past actions and recognise our humanity, whilst allowing us to reduce any emotional self-flaggelation that may be taking place.
Mindfulness has been shown to de-activate the DMN if it is practised over time. Ultimately, this means that we can potentially make better choices going forward, whilst also learning to live and experience the present.
Practising Mindfulness
You can practise mindfulness at any time, remembering that the more you practise, the more you can start to detach from the DMN way of working and stay in the present - which enhances psychological flexibility. You can practise it when brushing your teeth, eating (whilst chewing slowly and really taking time to savour the flavours), or when walking – by looking at the colours of leaves, the birds or the way that the clouds move.
In doing so, remember that your mind may want to pull you back to thinking about work, or paying bills or switching on the coffee machine, but making a conscious effort to notice things in the present moment will allow you to ‘unhook’ yourself from difficult thoughts that feel all-consuming and even ruminatory in nature.
Mindfulness is not some ‘wishy washy’ California type ‘new age’ practise. It is about experiencing what is happening in the present moment around us and within us. It is also about living in the present moment, rather than living in the past or a future, where frankly, we have no idea about.
