THE POWER OF NOW

How the concept of Mindfulness works and what it can achieve

By: Julie Maertens, M.Sc. Belgian Clinical Psychologist. Article derived from a Dutch article
by her Teacher, Dr. David Dewulf.
Appeared in The German Chamber of Commerce in China, Magazine October-November
2009 in honor of Body & Soul Medical Clinics.

Tomorrow is a mystery
Yesterday is history
Today is a gift
It is called present.

Mindfulness’ training teaches how to deal with stress, fear, negative emotions, worries and in particular how to enjoy life much more. In this way, unpleasant thoughts or feelings no longer overwhelm and it is possible to respond adequately to difficult situations. Mindfulness meditation focuses on training one’s attention, in particular its quality. Attention is non-judgmental and is directed mainly to the present moment. Mindfulness is therefore also called “present moment meditation” and - in this context - “the power of now”.

Our untrained attention is continually focused on getting more of what is experienced as pleasant (attachment) and on avoiding what is experienced as unpleasant (aversion). Thus, a certain idealised standard, which can never be achieved, is aimed for. This creates a persistent unhappiness about the way things are. Happiness is sought for outside oneself and in the future. Attention travels restlessly from the past to the future and gets stuck in worries, feelings of guilt and fear.

The purpose of mindfulness meditation is to free oneself from conditioning by these unconscious patterns and to become aware of how emotional habits determine our life. Meditative exercises make the relation between our thoughts, emotions and opinions less dominant. A number of communication exercises teach how to identify less with mental positions in relation to others.

3 Step Approach

Mindfulness means connecting to and accepting the here and now experience. In the first place, concentration and stability of attention are trained. Breathing is used as a focus here. Interfering thoughts and sensations that call for attention are released in a kind but firm manner and focus is brought back to breathing. In this way, participants are trained to return their attention to the present moment.

As a second stage one learns to observe (primary process) in meditation without immediate interpretation or reaction (secondary process) to reach a level of so-called “bare attention”. This enables one to live in the here and now experience instead of getting lost in fantasies, worries or anticipations. A typical exercise during this stage is to experience a sound as a mere sound and to drop the mentally constructed concept around it, for example the image of a car.

In the third phase, one learns to observe things without being attached to a specific point of view or result. Openness and acceptance are at the core. This creates inner stability and peace. Saying ‘yes’ to reality as it is, lays the foundation for seeing the full perspective and responding to it adequately. Mindfulness is a proven remedy against the downward spiral caused by automatic negative thoughts.

• One learns to see thoughts as ideas (and not as truth).
• One awakes from the “auto pilot” (conditioned patterns) and learns to step out of it.
• Labelling (depressing) thoughts compete with their contents (by filling the cognitive space),which brakes the downward spiral
• Recognising negative thoughts early allows to follow a different track. Instead of walking the path of confusion and reactivity, there is a possibility of insight and focused action.
• Next to thoughts, one also works with breathing, the body, sounds and emotions. One works directly with the emotion and is completely present for the change of mood and its physical manifestation.

Don’t Ask Yourself Why

Achieving mindfulness has a direct effect on preventing or limiting cognitive reactivity. These are the depressing thought programmes that patients, who recovered from a depression, carry with them and which reactivate during minor mood swings. These are programmes, which more or less everyone carries along.

In meditative attention exercises one learns how to handle these thought programmes. One learns to recognise patterns of thoughts, emotions and impulses, which come to the surface, and let them pass by. One observes which process is present and allows it to be there. Observing and labelling the process that presents itself, has a direct affect on the cognitive space, the limited capacity we have available for conscious information processing. This competes with processes that do something with the contents and therefore with the rumination condition. The rumination condition has been found to be important as a predictor for the relapse of depression. While people with a rumination condition have the impression that they understand themselves better, there seems to be a lessening in their capability to solve problems and pull themselves out of their negative mood.

The “why” question distracts us from the direct experience of reality and adds to the counter- productive rumination condition. Mindfulness gives sole attention to what happens here and now, without analysing. This means direct experiencing, without asking why.