10 Nov What if you’re doing mindfulness all wrong?
I’m a big advocate of mindfulness.
I practice regularly myself; and I almost always recommend it to others.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s the foundation of pretty much all other self-care or psychological wellbeing strategies.
But that being said, I’m also well aware that it’s often misunderstood and (therefore) often misused.
Which is why I’m sharing this article by Jacinta Bowler from Science Alert to correct a few myths and misconceptions …
What does mindfulness mean to you? Is it about being aware of what comes your way without distraction? Or is it engaging with life’s challenges without judgement, and responding as required?
A new meta-analysis of almost 150 studies has found that most of us understand that mindfulness is about both being aware and engaging with whatever comes our way. Unfortunately, we’re much worse at putting this ‘engaging’ part into action.
“Scientific understanding of mindfulness goes beyond mere stress-relief and requires a willingness to engage with stressors,” says University of Waterloo social psychologist Igor Grossmann.
“It is, in fact, the engagement with stressors that ultimately results in stress relief. More specifically, mindfulness includes two main dimensions: awareness and acceptance.”
Mindfulness derives from Buddhist traditions, and has become used in Western settings since the 1970s as part of psychiatry and psychology. It has been shown to help reduce depression, stress, anxiety, and even drug addiction, and is regularly recommended as a coping mechanism as part of therapy.
In terms of regular people’s understanding of mindfulness, we’re really good at the ‘awareness’ part, the researchers say – where we take stock of what’s around us, and any potential issues coming our way.
But the team found that we then tend to use mindfulness as a passive endorsement of the experience: the mindfulness equivalent of a shrug emoji…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE