The pace of the modern world and impact of technology is one of the reasons that mindfulness is growing in popularity as a way for people to develop a calmer mind.

Mindfulness is a thought process that allows us to pay attention to and see clearly what is happening in our lives. Whilst it can’t eliminate life’s pressures, it can help people deal with them in a calmer manner. It makes a positive contribution to overall well-being.

Mindfulness helps us become more aware of the present moment, understand ourselves better and enjoy the world around us more. It helps us to get better at noticing thoughts, sensations, sights, sounds and smells.

The practice may be simple, but because it is so different to how our minds normally behave, it takes practice to master it. Some people describe it as choosing and learning to control their focus of attention. Mindfulness is about being in the now, not regretting the past or worrying about the future. It allows you to pay attention to the present moment on purpose and without judgement.

Recently in the blog I talked about stress being a major cost to businesses. According to a survey by Labour Force, the British economy is losing £2.4 billion a year due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. I also made mention of a documentary I’d seen on the topic called “The Truth about Stress.”

The programme considered various approaches as a possible intervention for people suffering from stress and mindfulness was one of them. It mentioned that it’s being used to help with exam stress in some schools. Being a teenager has always been stressful but what’s changed is the fast pace of the modern world and living life on social media.

It also talked about how much time we spend reminiscing about the past or racing forward to the future. Both of these two activities can cause stress. The programme featured an experiment which included mind wandering and mindfulness states. The mind that is constantly worrying about things is mind wandering.

Science has shown that when our minds wander, 60% of the time it’s about a worry or negative thought.

A Harvard University study by Matthew A Killingsworth and Daniel T Gilbert stated that “A human mind is a wandering mind and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind. The ability to think about what is not happening is a cognitive achievement that comes at an emotional cost.” They discovered in their research that our minds are wandering about 46% of the time in any given activity.

The programme showed two brain scans of the same person. The first when they were in a mind wandering state and the second in a mindfulness state. In the mind wandering state we do lots of self referencing. It’s about me experiences and this constantly agitates our mind. When in a mindfulness state we are relaxed and cut out our commentary.

The difference between the two scans was stark. There was so much activity across various parts of the brain in the mind wandering scan. There was barely any in the mindfulness brain. There was less reaction in the frontal lobe of the brain.

There was a sense of openness and clarity with the mindfulness brain instead of the interrupted, agitated brain that thinks about what could be better, what people think of you and judgement.

Mindfulness allows us to silence that commentary. The mindfulness brain is quiet, taking in what it needs to take in. The mind wandering brain is noisy and thinks about me, me, me and asks “what should I do next?” and “what should I be doing now?”

This week, why not take a few moments out to reflect and consider if you need to spend more time in the now. Decide what action you can take to become more mindful.

This week’s quotation:

“A calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.” Dalai Lama.

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