#492 Mindfulness Practice & "the Real World"

     When one starts practicing Mindfulness meditation, it's a bit like taking a mini-vacation to a far-off land, where everything is different. When the few minutes of practice end, vacation's over, & it's back to "the real world".
     Meditation practice may thus initially seem like a brief escape to a pleasant, idealistic never-never land. Too many of us, out of fear, firmly believe (& behave accordingly) that survival in the "real world" demands a very different proactively aggressive approach. A popular poster in the 1970s showed a cave-man-like brute carrying a huge club, with the caption: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil, because I'm the meanest son-of-a-bitch in the valley."
     The practical necessity of primitive brutishness, and therefore, impracticality of an evolved approach like mindfulness is a surprisingly common, deeply-held misconception. Furthermore, stress, like ethanol, can instantly shut down evolved judgment (prefrontal cortex), and suddenly we react (brain stem) as primitively as our cave-dwelling ancestors or cornered wild animals.

     People are drawn to meditation practice when they recognize that their usual approach is failing to bring them deep, lasting meaning & satisfaction. People continue with meditation practice when they experience how effective it is.

     Mindfulness is a universal human capacity that fosters clear thinking & openheartedness. The goal of mindfulness is to maintain awareness moment by moment, gradually & progressively developing a greater sense of emotional balance & well-being.           Ludwig DS, Kabat-Zinn J. "Mindfulness in Medicine." JAMA 2008; 300(11): 1350-2.

     If meditation is practical & powerful for the people in the documentary below, it can work in your world.

 

#413 Patiently Learning to Tolerate Ambiguity

     We sit down to meditate, setting our timer to 50 minutes. Our intention is to let go of thoughts, let go of all our concerns of the day, concerns for tomorrow, concerns from yesterday. Just this is enough - just sitting. And then interesting thoughts come up, one after the other.
     We notice the thought, gently accept it, gently let go, returning to kindly embracing just this sitting. Just this sitting is enough. Allowing the physical feel of the present moment to fill our perceptions. We don't interpret or make a story out of these physical sensations - we perceive them directly as simple, constantly-changing physical sensations. We feel simply & directly (experiential attention), we don't interpose stories (narrative attention) between the sensations and our bodies. Another interesting thought, we notice, gently accept, let go, returning to just sitting.
     We repeat this process tens, hundreds, thousands of times per sitting, becoming increasingly patient, tolerant and persistent. Our patience, tolerance and persistence establishes new circuitry in our brains, like water wears a new channel in rocks - gentle, but relentless, unstoppable. Yes our brains secrete thoughts AND yes our awareness becomes increasingly more stable, still and calm. Thoughts & self-talk become quieter & quieter, less & less intrusive.
     Persistent intelligent training invariably, inevitably, undoubtedly enhances mindfulness.