#623 Sanity 101 - From Trance to Agency

     We're surprisingly often caught in the momentum of a trance. Something triggers the memory of an old, meaningful event (pleasant or unpleasant), and we suddenly:
          • Overreact (our "button was pushed");
          • Freeze, become incapacitated by anxiety / fear;
          • Simply zone out, off in an imaginary world.
     Too often we don't engage appropriately with life, in real time. This seriously compromises our character, quality of life, and efficacy.

     Mindfulness practice helps us quickly recognize when we're "off" ie inappropriate to our present situation. We strengthen "the muscle" that efficiently, seamlessly brings our attention back to right here, right now, thus stabilizing concentration. Continuous awareness of, and appropriately responding to one's current circumstances, is the very basis of sanity.

#590 Mindfulness is NOT Suppression or Avoidance of Thoughts or Emotions

     Mindfulness practice first helps us become more comfortable with things as they are in the present moment ie helps cultivate a degree of mental stability. Then, with this stability - decreased ego-noise - we're able to have some insight into what's actually going on.
     So mindfulness is NOT about suppressing or otherwise avoiding thoughts, emotions, or any other aspect of life. We don't suppress thoughts. We do let go of habitually entertaining them, wrestling with them, being hijacked by them, identifying with them. The same goes for emotions. Thoughts and emotions remain, but become quieter & quieter background noise, no longer controlling & distorting our life.

     "Fully plumbing the depths of mindfulness requires time and exploration. There is a wealth of meaning and nuance in the experience of mindfulness that can enrich our lives in unimagined ways." 
       Goldstein J. "Mindfulness. A Practical Guide to Awakening." Sounds True, Boulder, 2013. 

Stephen Bright   www.dpreview.com