Mindfulness is hot right now. The term itself, which I’ll get to, has become a catchall for learning to relax and relieve stress. And there is good reason for its hotness. Mindfulness, at its core, can be dramatically helpful to your brain and body health. Unfortunately, whenever I’ve recommended mindfulness to my patients, or even when they tell me they “do mindfulness,” I’m often confronted with some puzzled looks when I describe what it actually is. For a term that has become quite common place, there appears to be a lot of confusion on how to “do mindfulness.”
What is it Mindfulness?
Being fully present without judgment. Not too helpful, eh? This definition, while right on point, does not lead one to know how to “do mindfulness.” So, let’s clarify a few things.
Being present = keeping our brain focused on the present - not on the past or future. For example, in the shower, thinking about what you have to do today, or thinking about what mistakes you made yesterday, is NOT being fully present in the moment.
Without judgement = observing what is happening (e.g., what’s going on around you, what you’re feeling in your body, what you’re thinking) WITHOUT critiquing it. For example, watching a car cutting you off and thinking “that car moved quickly in front of me” and NOT “what a jerk.” Or, back to that shower example, feeling the water on your body and noticing the smell of the shampoo without thinking “I like that smell.” Adding that last part is adding in the judgment, even if it’s a good judgement.
This is why mindfulness is hard “to do.” Our brains are constantly in the past or future and love to judge. In order to practice mindfulness, it takes a concerted brain training effort. While there are many ways to do this, we’ve tried to simplify it for you with our mindful core and mindful flexibility exercises. In these exercises, our users have found it easier to “stay present” by focusing/visualizing their muscles flexing/relaxing. It’s just a more tangible image to hold on to (the non-judging part still takes a lot of practice!).
Final Thoughts
If you’re someone who has tried mindfulness and it “hasn’t worked” or if you’ve always wanted to try but don’t know how, give mindful core and mindful flexibility a try. By physically exercising and/or stretching, and focusing your mind on those tasks, you’ll a) find it easier to stay present which b) helps turn off your brain’s judgment that loves to tell you that you “can’t do mindfulness.”
Happy brain training!
Dr. Doug Polster
co-founder
Final Thought Thought: As we grow our mindfulness, expanding those few additional minutes of progression, re-center present thoughts [the] moment it's recognized we are no longer present. Keep re-centering. Over the course of 30 days, look back as to how much time is now present compared to day one. This may be 5 minutes, less or greater.