#483 Awareness, Choice & Beyond

     "Being mindful presupposes that individuals whose awareness is not impaired do have a choice in what phenomena they attend to and how they act."

        Hirst IS. Perspectives of mindfulness. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2003; 10: 359–366. 

     Through practicing mindfulness, one approaches "direct & constant mindfulness of the body . . . consciousness of every movement, breath, feeling & thought—‘a consciousness alive to the present reality’.

     This is in direct contrast to how the majority of us live our lives — not usually paying attention to what we are doing or saying, distracted by our thoughts or lamenting the past or fearing the future; not fully present and barely aware of eating when we are eating or sleeping when we are sleeping or walking when we are walking. 

     ‘In its developed form, mindfulness . . . brings about a highly refined sensitivity to everything that happens, however minute, in one’s immediate vicinity and in one’s mind.’" 

       Lynn R. Mindfulness in social work education. Social Work Education 2010; 29(3): 289–304. 
 

     "During the past two decades, meditation and other contemplative practices are being applied to a growing number of professional fields:
     In healthcare, the number of hospitals and medical clinics that provide Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training for patients grew from 80 in 1993 to 250 in 2003.  

     In higher education, 100 professors have received a Contemplative Fellowship to assist them in integrating these practices into their university and college class curriculum, and 32 educational institutions were identified as integrating these practices at the program and department level.  

     In the business & nonprofit sector, at least 135 companies, nonprofit organizations, & government agencies have offered their employees classes in some form of meditation and/or yoga."

       Duerr M. A Powerful Silence. The Role of Meditation and Other Contemplative Practices In American Life and Work. Report on the Contemplative Net Project The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society Northampton, MA, 2004. 

aoc46    www.dpreview.com