What actually is Mindfulness?

[paulcrossan]

Hi Gareth,
Thanks for asking me to join. You know im new to all kinds of meditation and after reading some of the positive comments I'm wondering what actually is Mindfulness and how to get started? sorry if this seems like a daft question but its a good enough point for me to start at! ;-) (plus computers aren't my strong point either!)
Cheers, Paul

[Gareth]

Welcome Paul,

Thanks for Joining, I really hope that this will one day be a thriving community! The good news is that by starting meditating, you have started to walk the mindfulness path already. Pursuing mindfulness involves meditation, but it's actually a different concept. See the other areas of the site to get more of an idea: www.everyday-mindfulness.org
Mindfulness is incredibly simple (it just means paying attention.) But it's also very deep too. Mindfulness is something that has changed my life forever for the better; I hope that it can help you too. You are right at the beginning of the process, so what you need now above all is patience and dedication.

We are always here to help and support.

Gareth

[pranna]

Paul and Gareth -

I hope you two don't mind me jumping in here and giving my take on what mindfulness is - from scratch. I find that writing about this topic helps me to clarify my understanding as well and if the explanation helps at all, then it's a win-win.

Gareth is right when he says that mindfulness is "paying attention" and obviously, paying attention is important in life - but that surely can't be what all of the fuss is about! People are so excited about it -- how could it be something so simple? Right??

Here is a clue about why it's so powerful, this practice of paying attention. By committing yourself to really spending time paying attention to something very simple, often the physical sensations of breathing, you'll notice very quickly that it is hard to do! This noticing is itself an insight. It's the first glimpse that our normal mode of perceiving is absolutely dominated by the thinking mind. We can hardly stay with a full in-and-out breath without the mind commenting, judging, liking, disliking, singing, wandering, planning, remembering, organizing, clinging, rejecting, fighting and desiring. What you are seeing here is the normal functioning of the conditioned mind. Coming back to the breath over and over and over is a sort of training. You are training yourself to let go of whatever comes to mind and get back to simple awareness of the present moment. This is work at a very fundamental level. Building concentration and coming to rest in a steady state of awareness, free from mental distraction is a fundamentally different way of being. The clinging mind, the compulsive thinking, the endless wanting, and the constant state of dissatisfaction - this is what causes all of our suffering. It is possible to be free from that.

If you choose to explore the teachings and read the books and spend time on the cushion.. you'll read a million different explanations about what it "does for you". And while the explanations can be quite magnificent, the journey can be long (because we have built up a lot of mental conditioning). The most important thing to do is practice. Reading is good. Practice is what really counts.

[JonW]

Just read pranna's definition of mindfulness. Beautifully put.
I think it was Jon Kabat-Zinn who said, in reference to the eight week course, that the most important week is the ninth week and the ninth week lasts the rest of our lives.

[Steve]

I've just read a book called 'Rewire Your Brain for Love' which re-enforces what pranna says:

http://rewireyourbrainforlove.com/

Whilst the book includes quite a lot of detail about the structure and functioning of the brain (at least as far is currently understood), it provides a direct link between simple mindfulness practices and how these change the structure and functioning of the brain. It is known that the brain is able to build new pathways and these simple practices, over time, are effective in doing just that. At one level, it is beautifully simple and at another its mind boggling amazing!

Steve

[here]

I LOVE your post pranna!

We can hardly stay with a full in-and-out breath without the mind commenting, judging, liking, disliking, singing, wandering, planning, remembering, organizing, clinging, rejecting, fighting and desiring.

Interestingly, I thought I was the only one that did this before I started mindfulness. I didn't realise "all minds did things all the time"! That they were always thinking and doing all the things you list. I actually thought I had a particularly hyperactive mind, and that everybody else's was very still in comparison! It might sound very naive of me to have believed that and perhaps it is. But I have learnt more about everybody and how normal my experience is since I started mindfulness!