‘Mindfulness’ is a term that is often used in the psychology world, and even in meditation and prayerful practices. But what is it really? Mindfulness is defined as the practice of intentionally paying attention to the present moment with no judgement. This practice can help you pay closer attention to your surroundings, therefore ‘grounding’ you and helping reduce anxiety. In a recent article for Psychology Today, Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D. has given us a clearer explanation as to why mindfulness’ multiple facets are essential for helping us experience happiness.
Greenberg starts by explaining that mindfulness is both a set of skills and an orientation to life. It involves you allowing yourself to maintain open attention to whatever is happening in the present moment and granting yourself to be open to anything that is going internally or externally. Observing your experiences in the moment forces an individual to slow down and specifically focus on different aspects of your immediate experience. This includes what you experience through your senses, your thoughts, and your observation and experience of what is happening around you. This skill is the first facet of mindfulness, and it is called monitoring. When you practice this, it allows you to feel happier due to the fact that it allows you to slow down and appreciate everything going on around you. However, if you are paying attention to both positive and negative emotions it could make you more aware of negative occurrences along with the positive ones, which prevents feeling happy. This is why there are multiple facets to mindfulness that are both important.
The second facet to mindfulness is called acceptance. It is simply allowing yourself to experience your thoughts and feelings with an open mind and kindness. Anxious individuals tend to judge themselves harshly for feeling the way they do. However, difficult feelings can become less aversive when we sit with them and resist the temptation to judge ourselves. The key to acceptance is the absence of judgment or clinging. This is an essential point of mindfulness because it can allow your life or experiences to be less cluttered with your own internal judgements about your anxieties. If we manage to be open to the present moment, it naturally arises our feelings of contentment and other positive emotions.
Researchers have found that individuals that practiced only the ‘monitoring’ aspect of mindfulness experienced the same amount of reduced negative feelings as those who practiced both monitoring and acceptance. Nevertheless, individuals that implemented both skills into their daily lives had a significantly stronger effect of positive emotions. Stressful experiences will always arise, but to help our own mental health practicing both facets of mindfulness can lead to reduced anxiety and increased happiness.
It is important to note that mindfulness takes practice. Experiencing anxiety can sometimes feel out of your control, but it is important to do your best to make room for these feelings. Clearly identify your feeling and notice where you feel it in your body. Allow the feeling to be there. Notice what the stress or anxiety makes you want to do (e.g., run and hide) and realize that typically you have a choice whether or not you will do those things. Realistically, you can’t simply run and hide when your anxiety flares up. Instead of giving into your fears in the moment, try using each facet of mindfulness. It can help you reduce the symptoms of panic and assist you in being able to move forward and complete necessary tasks.
Essentially, Greenberg has shown her readers that mindfulness has multiple facets that can be incredibly helpful in bettering our mental health. It takes practice, but learning this skill along with committing to therapy can be incredibly beneficial for a person that is struggling with their mental health. There is absolutely nothing wrong with needing some assistance, and at Pinnacle Counseling and Testing Center, we are here to help teach you valuable skills to help improve your quality of life.