McMindfulness
McMindfulness.
Warning.
This article alerts us to a very real concern.
My
concern here is echoed in the article is that as the mindfulness movement
sweeps the United States, it is in danger of being badly misunderstood as to its true character and that then it ultimately will be discarded by many because it isn't “working”.
We
are new to mindfulness here in SMART Recovery, and thus it seems timely to blog
a bit about it so that we have as accurate an understanding of what mindful
awareness practice actually is and does to avoid any misconceptions. So this
blog will focus on what mindfulness awareness practice cannot or does not do –
so that there are no false expectations.
In
fact it is easier to describe what it is not, than what it really is. So I’ll
start with the nots.
Mindful
awareness practices or MAPs are not a panacea. In fact a mindful awareness practice cannot “fix” anything.
As a matter fact to be perfectly accurate it doesn't “do” anything. Some good
things happen during the course of such a practice of course. More on this to
follow next time.
MAP
is not a quick fix for anything, it is simple yet difficult. If one expects
instant results and short-term gratification they will be disappointed. Yes, some things can be noticed early, but not necessarily so.
MAP is not about relaxation. There are other excellent relaxation exercises that are
not mindful. Yes relaxation can occur as a benefit but sometimes it happens and
sometimes it
MAP
does not make you smarter.
MAP does not make you more creative. That might happen but no guarantees.
Mindfulness
does not eliminate stress. Yes it can lessen stress but it’s a good thing that it is not eliminated because we are hardwired for stress for a very good reason. Evolutionarily we needed it to survive
MAP
does not take away negative emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, etc... All that
occurs is a change in one’s relationship to these negative emotions in such a
way that it can ameliorate the suffering associated with them.
Specifically
to our own areas of concern it does not eliminate urges. Similar to other
negative emotions, it allows you to put them in a different perspective where
they are no longer powerful.
MAP
is not a self-improvement practice. Yes there can be an intention to improve
certain things, but if that becomes a goal then it is no longer mindful.
Mindfulness is "presence" and goals are in the future. Presence and the
future are incompatible.
MAP
is not about transcendence, some people claim transcendental effects, but
transcendence is definitely not part of it. Conversely MAP can be very transformative.
It sure has been for me.
More
on what can happen with the proper intention of MAPs will follow in a
subsequent posting.
Bill
from the Science Corner.
Ive had several responses to this posting already by personal email- all positive. But one bemoaned that I only mentioned the cannots and donts. This is true - because its far easier to do than either describe what MAP really is and even harder to tell what it does. MAP is a highly personal experience.
But prompted by this Im going to post an occasional series on the subject to be entitled , MIndful Awareness, a personal perspective and experience .
Stay tuned dear friends.
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I think the fact that "mindfulness" now permeating every corner of society can be viewed as a positive. In part, because it IS part of everything we do, or should be. It's a modality of thinking that helps take off the bullshit blinders of all the stories, and beliefs and judgments we are constantly telling ourselves, and allows us to be open to all the possibilities presented by the situation at hand.
The charlatans and misapprehenders will eventually fall away, as they always do. (Or else they won't, and their version of mindfulness will be called something else, and we can avoid it. Or the real practice will change ITS name.) It's just with so many humans it takes a while. That's part of evolution, too. It takes time.
Human practices from religion to brushing one's teeth all get adapted by the individual, and they become whatever the receiver feels they should be. It's what humans do. It's what evolution does. But I think mindfulness is too all-pervasive to be eliminated by what amounts to "lethal mutation" evolutionarily. It'll all come out in the wash, not get thrown out with the bathwater.
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Yes that certainly is a good thought and I hope you are right. I guess Im a tad cynical at how things come about and are accepted in our country
After all it did survive in the east for 2500 years at least .
But I thought it prudent just to raise our awareness of the possible dangers .
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I totally agree. In fact, the more potential something has, the more it's going to be copied, distorted, promoted, and hacked. Hence all the weird gurus driving Rolls Royce's in the 70s and 80s. Hence Castaneda's quakery. Hence present-day addiction gurus who espouse love but charge more money than they need to do the job.
It's not only evolution, it's the cosmic rebound. Good stuff collects bad stuff around it, but still it perseveres.
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All your qualifications are well founded, and they're particularly worthwhile because they make mindfulness all the more attractive. As it should be.
The only thing I disagree with: you say presence and future are incompatible, so mindfulness can't include goals. Yet a great deal of present-tense cognition IS about the future. One can become mindful of that. One can watch one's goals appear on the horizon, grow to huge proportions in moments, watch the surge of desire and the sudden anxiety of potential failure...and then watch it all fade away again. A lot of people trying to meditate find themselves thinking about goals and then say: oh shit, I'm no supposed to do that. No, you can let yourself think about whatever you are thinking about. Just watch it happening. That's mindfulness.
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Tchnicslly Mark you are correct and my statement a bit ambiguous. But also incorrect too in a different way.
If you have an aspiration or intention to be mindful , that works. If you have a goal to have something happen, that will not work. Mindfulness is being, not doing.
Further, most in the field consider that
thinking while in presence is virtual . Yet if you are aware of it and examine it curiously, then understanding improves.
Its all a bit murky. However ,especially for those in early practice, its best to merely try to stay in the now , and come back to it if the mind wanders to past or future.
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