Mindfulness is a method of purposely bringing one’s intention and attention to experiences occurring in the present moment without judgment, regret, or expectation.

Though it is similar in some ways to meditation, meditation and mindfulness are not the same. In fact, mindfulness is actually, a skill one develops through meditation or other techniques. The roots of Mindfulness derive from sati, a significant element of Zen, and other spiritual traditions.

Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, in Transmodern Zen, we explain mindfulness as to how past, present and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena.

Clinical psychology, life coaches, and self-improvement specialists since the 1970s have developed a number of life skills, self-help tools, and therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people experiencing a variety of psychological conditions. Mindfulness practice has been employed to reduce depression to reduce stress, anxiety, and in the treatment of physical and emotional addictions.

Programs based on mindfulness models have been adopted within schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans’ centers, and other environments, and mindfulness programs have been applied for additional outcomes such as for weight management, athletic performance, healthy aging, helping children with special needs, and as an intervention during the perinatal period.

A Simple Mindfulness Technique

1. sit in a straight-backed chair or sit cross-legged on the floor or on a cushion.

2. close your eyes.

3. bring attention to either the sensations of breathing in the proximity of your nostrils or to the movements of the abdomen when breathing in and out.

4. do not try to control your breathing, simply be aware of your natural breathing process/rhythm.

5. don’t be concerned when your mind runs off to other thoughts and associations,

6. when this happens, and it will passively notice that the mind has wandered,

7. accept this, non-judgmentally, and return to focusing on your breath. When I say, “accept this, non-judgmentally” I mean do not criticize yourself, or start negative self-talk such as “I’m doing it wrong.” Simply go back to this mindfulness exercise.

There are many meanings to the word mindfulness and they do not all agree. How can this be? In East Asia, the words sati and smṛti are used to refer to what we have come to call mindfulness in the West. This translation process can get pretty confusing. A number of Buddhist scholars have started trying to establish “retention” as the preferred alternative. The specific meaning of sati is as “memory” and the terms sati/ and smṛti have been translated as:

· Attention

· Awareness

· Concentrated attention

· Inspection

· Mindful attention

· Mindfulness

· Recollection

· Reflective awareness

· Remindfulness

· Retention

· Self-recollection

In HAGT, Harrison’s Applied Game Theory mindfulness can be seen as a strategy that stands in contrast to a strategy of avoidance of emotion on the one hand and to the strategy of emotional over-engagement on the other hand.

The Takeaway

It can be said that definitions of mindfulness are typically selectively interpreted based on who is studying it and how it is applied. Some have viewed mindfulness as a mental state, while others have viewed it as a set of skills and techniques. A distinction can also be made between the state of mindfulness and the trait of mindfulness.

According to David S. Black, an expert in preventive medicine, and a researcher in mind-body issues, “mindfulness” originally was associated with esoteric beliefs and religion, and “a capacity attainable only by certain people”, scientific researchers have translated the term into measurable terms, providing a valid operational definition of mindfulness. Black mentions three possible domains:

1. A trait: a dispositional characteristic (a relatively long-lasting trait), a person’s tendency to more frequently enter into and more easily abide in mindful states;

2. A state: an outcome (a state of awareness resulting from mindfulness training) being in a state of present-moment awareness;

3. A practice: mindfulness meditation practice itself.

Ultimately, a commitment to mindfulness can bring greater love, happiness, and meaningfulness into our lives

Here is a simple explanation of Zen, the Eastern philosophy where Western mindfulness likely originated…

Takeaway

You don’t need special tools to practice mindfulness. As popular as the idea is becoming, and that is a good thing, critics have questioned both the commercialization and over-marketing of mindfulness for health benefits.

Author: Lewis Roshi (Lewis Harrison) is an author, practical philosopher, and seminar leader. Formerly a fitness trainer, he now teaches mindfulness and is the founder and senior teacher at the Wisdom Path Community, a spiritually-oriented social network-based group that focuses on the spiritual journey rather than rites, rituals, ceremonies, or dogmatic practices.

“My website is AskLewis.com and I can be emailed directly at LewisCoaches@gmail.com…”

You can read all of my Medium.com stories at LewisCoaches.Medium.com

……………………Lewis