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Are you a bull in a china shop or mindful?
For the past 25 years, "mindfulness" has become a popular term in many circles. The idea is simple: mindfulness means paying attention. Imagine being in a china shop; being "mindful" means carefully avoiding breaking anything. In yoga circles, it means paying attention to your breath and the present moment.
When I think of mindfulness, it’s about being deeply aware of the present moment through your breath. It involves a keen yet gentle sense of what’s happening right now, without analyzing everything in your experience. This requires connecting to the moment through your breath and body, rather than letting the mind take over. In fact, both the body and the mind play a role. For mindfulness to be effective, the mind and body through the breath need to be calm.
So, why is it called mindfulness? The term can be puzzling because “mind” isn’t just about the brain; it also involves the body. The body has its own form of consciousness—it feels, perceives, and processes experiences just like the brain does. Together, they create a unified wisdom. In the BodyTalk System, we refer to the "body-mind," addressing the whole mind, which includes both the body and the brain, along with subtle energetic systems.
Mindfulness, by definition, is a practice focused on paying attention to the present moment in a non-judgmental way. It involves observing your thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise, without trying to change or judge them. Just notice them, let them pass, and focus on your breath. The goal is to develop a heightened awareness of your current experience, which supports stress reduction and your ability to learn stress reduction skills. This awareness aids in regulating emotions and enhancing overall mental health and well-being.
Sounds simple, right? So why do we need classes on mindfulness, stress management skills, therapy, meditation, or BodyTalk therapy? The pressures of modern life, coupled with our perpetually active minds, make finding peace of mind and body challenging. We have never been taught how to manage overthinking and intense emotions, or how to be peacefully present in the world.
One of the stress reduction skills that we have not been taught is how to pay attention to our breath. Sure, we breathe all day, but not in a relaxed, continuous way that promotes healing and relaxation. This is where learning relaxation and correct breathing become crucial. These techniques offer practical ways to calm the mind and body, making it easier to handle daily stress.
The mindfulness movement often describes the brain as a "monkey brain"—restless and easily caught up in repetitive thoughts and worries. We've all been there: dwelling on what happened, what was said, and getting stuck in endless loops of stress and judgment. Noticing our mind, and then focusing on stress reduction methods, breath, or meditation, helps by grounding us in the present moment, particularly through focusing on our breath and body. This practice can calm the mind and reduce stress, whether you're meditating or exercising. Just remember to keep your attention on your breath.
The brilliant figure who introduced mindfulness, this powerful method of stress reduction, to the West is Jon Kabat-Zinn. Starting in the 1970s, he traveled widely, learning from Eastern cultures and integrating those insights with his background in molecular biology. This fusion of modern science and ancient practices helped validate and popularize mindfulness. Kabat-Zinn was influenced by:
Thich Nhat Hanh: A Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk whose teachings on mindfulness greatly impacted Kabat-Zinn.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Known for Transcendental Meditation.
Various Buddhist Traditions: Kabat-Zinn drew from Zen and Theravada Buddhism.
Jack Kornfield and Sharon Salzberg: Contemporary mindfulness teachers in the West.
Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), which brought mindfulness into secular settings. Today, practices like stress reduction meditation, mindful eating, walking, and listening help us stay fully present, reducing anxiety, improving concentration, and enhancing overall happiness.
Sandra Borgonovo, BA, MA, CBP, Certified BodyTalk Practitionerwww.bodytalklifehealing.com
Sandra Borgonovo, BA, MA, CBP, Certified BodyTalk Practitioner
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