This is week 3 of Dr. Clare’s A Lust for Life online CBT course. Here are WEEK 1 and WEEK 2 if you missed it. It’s best to follow it week by week and take your time with the processes suggested.
So did you actually find the time to sit down and do the exercise we talked about last week? Or was it easy to brush it aside and think ‘maybe later’ and then never get around to it?
I run so that I can keep my heart healthy but more so that I can eat ice-cream. We like rewards and we like the ones that we get sooner, better. Changing our pattern of thinking doesn’t produce immediate rewards; it doesn’t make things better as soon as we start doing it. It takes time and annoyingly it takes effort.
So, if you’ve noticed it’s been hard to do the tasks from the last couple of weeks, that’s okay! Just remind yourself why you wanted to do it (and maybe if it helps, plan to reward yourself with something fun afterwards like losing all five lives on candy crush, mindlessly scrolling through facebook, or whatever floats your boat!)
This week we will explore the idea of mindfulness. Google mindfulness and you will get about 32 million results in half a second and all of them will inform you of what it is and how to do it. I will attempt to summarise the basics of 32 million articles in the next 800 words so here goes!
Mindfulness has its origins in Buddhism but you don’t need to be religious or spiritual to practice it as it’s a skill as well as a philosophy. Mindfulness is really about how we pay attention; its central tenets involve observing, describing and participating in the present moment and whatever we are experiencing in a curious, open and non-judgemental way.
There’s a reason why mindfulness has been around for thousands of years; it’s because it relieves distress, increases contentment and helps us navigate through unavoidable life stressors. In my own life, thinking mindfully has directly reduced how anxious I feel in certain situations and how much I enjoy life.
For example driving to work this morning I got stuck in traffic, my go to emotional response was irritation at other drivers and anxiety about being late. Firstly, I reminded myself to stop judging the moment as a ‘bad’ one and to stop judging myself for not leaving earlier. Then I curiously asked myself why I was paying more attention to the things that were frustrating over which I had no control (traffic and lateness) versus the fact that this was an unplanned moment of freedom and an opportunity to look at the glorious morning sky, taste my takeaway coffee and take a breath.
But don’t just take my word for it, here’s the science-y stuff. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy are two structured and formal interventions which have been repeatedly proven to aid recovery from mental health problems, particularly recurrent depression (NICE, 2009). After just one month it reduces feelings of depression, anxiety and stress even when completed as an online course (Krusche, Cyhlarova & Williams, 2013). In day-to-day life, less formal mindfulness practice improves our well-being and life-satisfaction and even reduces our risk of obesity (Camilleri et al. 2015). Simply put, it helps us cope better and live well.
In my experience there are two types of mindfulness that you might come across. There are the deliberate mindful practices such as the body scan and mindful moments and then there is mindful thinking which we can use when we are experiencing distress or difficulties in our day to day lives.
Mindful thinking emphasises
Observing
- Notice every thought, feeling or action that comes to you and allow it to slip in and out of your mind
- Notice whatever experience you are having without reacting to it
- Notice what comes through your senses, what can you see, smell, taste, hear and touch
Describing
- Use words to describe your experience ‘fear has arrived, my heart is racing’, or a thought that ‘I’m not good enough has come into my head’, ‘it smells sweet, it feels cold’
Participating
- Practice developing mindfulness until it becomes part of you, acknowledge your role in helping yourself to become more mindful
- Participating in the present moment whatever is happening
- If your mind wanders off to the past or the future just acknowledge that this is what mind’s do and gently bring it back to your mindfulness practice)
Curious
- Ask questions about your experience ‘why do I notice that first?’, ‘what does it sound like? (loud, soft), what does it taste like? (sweet, bitter, salty). How does my body feel, where is there tension?
Open
- We cannot be happy all the time, life comes with different experiences just because it’s life. Every experience, no matter what it is can teach us something and we must be open to that learning.
Non-judgemental
- Don’t evaluate or use judgemental words like good, bad, horrible, lovely, great, disgusting. Just accept things are as they are
- If you use judgemental words don’t judge that either! Just remind yourself what the aim of your mindfulness practice is
- Don’t think about what your opinion is, just think about the hard facts
Try the following brief exercise
Wherever you are right now reading this, take 60 seconds to be mindful. Close your eyes, sit back comfortably and just notice five sounds around you. What can you hear first? Is it loud or soft, staccato like or continuous? Does it get louder and quieter or stay the same? Is it high pitched? Is the one sound actually two sounds? When you have finished observing and describing one sound, move onto the next.
For those of you who are keen to read up about mindfulness or learn more, the following links might be a good place to start.
Wishing you all a mindful week!
References
Camilleri, G.M., Mejean, C., Bellisle, F, Hercberg, S & Peneau, S. (2015).Association between mindfulness and weight status in a general population from the nutrient-sante study. PloS One, 10 (6) e01277447
Krusche A,Cyhlarova E, Williams JMG. Mindfulness online: an evaluation of the feasibility of a webbased mindfulness course for stress, anxiety and depression. BMJ Open 2013;3:e003498.doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003498
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). (2009). Depression: Management of Depression in Primary and Secondary Care. London: NICE
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is intended for information purposes only and represents solely the opinions of this author. If you are seeking diagnosis or treatment of a mental health problem you should consult your GP or mental health professional. The information on this website is NOT a substitute for proper diagnosis, treatment or the provision of advice by an appropriate health professional.