Live with full attention
Don’t think too much about the past, don’t look too far ahead. Those who live in the here and now are happier and healthier. It’s called mindfulness and you can learn it too. Provided you find a good course.
Mmm, lovely sun. I can smell the salty sea water. And that cloud there, that looks like a cat’s head. Floating in the blistering heat it almost comes naturally: your thoughts revolve only around the here and now, your senses are on edge, no room for worrying. To live with full attention in the here and now, you can also learn on a mindfulness course, also called attention training. Mindfulness literally means ‘mindfulness’. And the method of arriving at that state of consciousness is derived from Buddhist meditation techniques.
More than a hype
Mindfulness is hot. Books about living with attention are hard to come by and workshops and training courses can be followed all over the country. When psychologist Johan Tinge was one of the first in the Netherlands to start with attention training ten years ago, he absolutely did not expect this. “It was a time when you shouldn’t put on your resume that you meditate. Now even the business community is interested.”
But according to Tinge, mindfulness is more than a hype: “The principles are more than 2500 years old and research shows that it helps to reduce many disorders and complaints. Attention training has become a fully-fledged alternative to other forms of therapy.” The western world is now beginning to realize what they have known in Asia for thousands of years: mindful living leads to greater happiness and well-being.
Help with physical complaints
The founder of mindfulness is the American microbiologist Jon Kabat-Zinn. In the late 1970s, he tested whether patients with various complaints such as chronic back pain, psoriasis and other stress-related complaints for whom there was no suitable treatment, would benefit from mindfulness training. Since that time, Kabat-Zinn’s team at the University of Massachusetts and other researchers at other universities have shown lasting positive effects on stress complaints, chronic pain, heart problems, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety disorders, depression and sleeping problems. In addition, there are also cautiously positive sounds about effects on the immune system, alcohol addiction and eating disorders. The complaints are less and the quality of life is much better with mindfulness.
No stress, no struggle
How can mindfulness have so many positive effects? Stress is an underlying problem in many complaints. Stress gnaws at our immune system, is a cause of depression, causes high blood pressure, aggravates pain and so on. Many people only notice at the end of the day how stiff their shoulders are or that their head is pounding. One consequence of mindfulness is that you are more likely to notice when you are stressed, so that you can do something about it sooner.
Moreover, much human suffering stems from our struggle against that suffering. We don’t want to feel bad and that’s why we try everything to get rid of bad feelings as quickly as possible. But the harder we try not to feel or think something, the stronger it becomes. He who lies awake and despairs because he cannot sleep will keep tossing and turning. Paradoxically, in mindfulness you learn not to try to get rid of or suppress unpleasant feelings, but to accept them and let them be. If you accept that you are awake, you will sleep better. The same can be said for pain, sadness or any other feeling. That is why, for example, the quality of life of cancer patients improves enormously through attention training. It reduces anxiety, depression, anger, confusion and stress. A large part of the suffering disappears when the frustration about the suffering is gone.
Eye for little happiness
But even if you are not sick, you can benefit greatly from mindfulness. Because we often live on automatic pilot, we forget to enjoy. When we finish a meal with our plates on our laps in front of the television, we hardly taste. All kinds of thoughts disrupt our contact with the present. And for some people, constant worry is an even bigger troublemaker. Worrying almost never leads to a solution to problems and only costs energy and joie de vivre. By consciously standing in the here and now while doing the daily things, you will worry and grind less. Your brain is simply given something else to do.
Moreover, you get more eye for small happiness. You are no longer lost in thought in the garden, but suddenly see shades of color in the grass, hear the rumble of a great tit in the birdhouse and smell the churned up earth. Experiences become more intense. Colors become deeper, smells more subtle, tastes special. Your perception becomes more precise and those who sharpen their senses can enjoy more.
That sounds logical, but it is not easy. Johan Tinge: “It is not a hair blade oil, not an easy-working trick. You have to learn to deal better with the weather conditions in your life. You won’t get there with just a book or a workshop of a morning. You really have to work intensively with yourself so that it becomes a way of life.”
Separating the wheat from the chaff
Mindfulness courses are springing up like mushrooms. But what is a good workout? In principle, anyone can put a ‘mindfulness trainer’ sign in their garden. That term is also used by teachers who do not have the right background. To separate the wheat from the chaff, Tinge recently set up a professional association. Members must be properly trained to be a mindfulness trainer, have at least a college degree, and must have been meditating every day for at least two years. Tinge: “On the website of the Institute for Mindfulness you can see exactly which trainers in your area have received the right training. You cannot rely on the location alone: you can find a good trainer in a community center and a bad trainer in the GGZ.”
The official mindfulness training, as formulated by Jon Kabat-Zinn, spans eight weeks. Every week there is a meeting of 2.5 hours. In addition, you should set aside about an hour a day to practice. If you manage to focus on the here and now, you will find that it does you good. And with that you can also start small. Lying in the sea I listen to the shrill screeching of the seagulls and feel a warm breeze brush my cheeks. Delicious, nothing but this.
Mindfulness: how do you do that?
Taste real. You think you know what your food tastes like, but take the time for the first bite at the next meal. What colors do you see, what do you smell? Try to think of words for flavors that you perceive the way a viticulturist reveals the nuances in the wine.
Do the body scan. A good way to get into the now is to take the body as an object of meditation. Lie down comfortably (on a beach chair is fine!) or sit. Start at your toes and try to sense and feel the body sensations. Then slowly go up through your ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, every part of your body up to and including your head. Feel even the individual parts of your face, the tingling on your lips, the warmth in your ears. Gently release any tension from your body.
Release.
Let experiences be what they are. A thought is no more than a few words in your head, tension is no more than a physical sensation, the noise of an overhead jet is no more than a sound vibration that rises from the silence and disappears again. Don’t draw conclusions from thoughts or experiences, such as, “I’m sure this will never end” or “I’m always so damn tense.” Observe that the thought or experience is there and then let it go. So don’t think frantically: “I’m not allowed to have this thought.”
Do one thing at a time. We may love multitasking (doing many things at once), but it does create a lot of stress. What can help is naming yourself what you are doing. For example, “I’m washing the dishes right now” or “I’m playing with my grandchild.” Fortunately, we only become real when we do things with full attention.
Sources):
- Plus Magazine