Well it’s the beginning of a new year. Time to reflect on the past – what have I achieved? What have I done well or could have done better? And a time to look forward – what can I do differently? How do I create the best version of me?
Most New Year’s resolutions, 54%, have been forgotten or neglected within the first six months into the New Year. Now that’s not a bad figure, but not good if you are in the 54%. Having a failed New Year’s resolution can often be translated in our minds as ‘I have failed’ and so we either punish ourselves for being a failure or we give up trying to make changes for the better because we ‘know’ we won’t succeed.
So this year why not take the Mindfulness Challenge along with me?
Scientific research has now developed so much that neuroscience can measure the impacts Mindfulness has on our daily lives. Findings have shown an increase in positive emotions, a stronger sense of purpose, higher sports performance, improved sleep, better academic performance, more energy and a greater sense of deep peace. People have reported decreases in negative moods, lower levels of depression and anxiety with less relapses, as well as less cravings for food thereby decreasing obesity. Overall people who live mindfully have a greater zest for life and decrease the ageing process by improving the plasticity of the brain.
Every week I will set up a Mindfulness Challenge for you (and me) to have a go at, just for that week. There is no need to look a whole year ahead and become daunted by the prospect of not being able to maintain long-term change. Just a new challenge, one week at a time. Each week a different task to practice and then, if you feel like it, leave a comment on how you went. If it was easy, difficult, impossible, what thoughts or emotions it conjured up for you. It would be great to share with each other to know you, or I, are not in it alone.
Firstly we need to look at ‘What is Mindfulness?’
Mindfulness is often described as deliberately paying attention to this very moment without passing judgment or expectation (adapted from Jon Kabat Zinn). So there it is, simple yeah? Just pay attention to this very moment, too easy. Not so easy! You see our minds aren’t used to paying attention to this very moment on a consistent basis. You may think you do, but that’s just your mind wanting you to think that!
Our minds have developed through evolution to keep us safe, so, they reflect on the past, assess events, happenings, hoping to learn from them and then they make plans, predict and create expectations which propel us into the future. When do we do this? Most of the time, especially when we are performing routine tasks such as our morning routine, showering, brushing teeth, dressing, eating, driving, or household chores like folding clothes, ironing, cleaning floors. We often call this ‘autopilot’. It can do it when we are in routine relationships – people we see daily such as our intimate partners, children and colleagues. This means that we are not actually ‘there’ for those interactions, we are busy in our heads planning our next meeting or going over some conversation or argument we had yesterday, last week, five years ago! Or we are thinking about the emails we need to write, or rehearsing for the next important conversation we may have with someone who is difficult or challenging. Often we can be just plain chastising ourselves for what we didn’t do well or won’t be able to do. Minds that are busy, busy, busy, chatting, chatting, chatting!
So let’s start by training our minds to be present. Pick a routine, perhaps brushing your teeth, your morning shower or when you are driving and just notice when your mind is wandering off the task at hand. When it does, and it will, trust me on this, just gently tell yourself to refocus back on the task. Use your senses –smell, hearing, seeing, tasting and especially touch. Our sense of touch can bring us back to this moment very quickly if we tune into it. Practice this and watch how often your mind gets bored and needs to ‘unpack’ the past or ruminate over past hurts. Watch as it worries about the unknown future, making predictions often predicting failure before you have even given something a go.
The mind is a powerful tool but too often without watching it, or as Dan Siegel calls it ‘mindsight’, the mind can become a weapon of our own destruction.
Practice noticing and then you will be ready for our Mindfulness Challenge.
Stay tuned for the first of our 52 Mindfulness Challenges coming to you every Monday for 2014.
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