Why Every Day?

[Gareth]

In this article I want to convey that mindfulness is a regular practice. You can't just dip in and out of it and expect the huge benefits that it brings. Here is what I wrote; tell me honestly what you think:

Because mindfulness requires a commitment to regular practice. The brain’s natural tendency is towards mindlessness, only regular mindfulness practice can teach the brain how to remain more in the present moment.

This is especially important when you first begin your practice. Your patterns of thought have been with you your whole life, and you cannot change them overnight. What’s really important to start with is to practise lots and lots and on a regular basis. Every Day is the title of this page, and whilst it’s not critical that you practise every single day, it’s a good place to aim for. Nor should you beat yourself up for not practising, that would go against everything that mindfulness is all about.

Over time, it becomes much easier to be mindful, and mindfulness becomes a way of life. Regular practice is still important, but it becomes less critical than it is at the beginning. It becomes easier to bring mindfulness into your everyday life and apply it to tasks like washing the dishes or brushing your teeth. This can bring a profound sense of wellbeing and peacefulness to your life.

[larorra]

I like to think of it like when you learn a,language. If you don't keep on practicing you get rusty and begin to forget it, its,something you need to keep at on a daily basis. Yes, I agree mindfulness should be practiced every day when possible, I find it almost impossible Sundays but practice the rest of the week formally. I have done things,a bit back to front as I practiced informally for months by doing walking meditation which is good but I think we need to do formal practice to get real benefits. I'm still learning day by day and that's ok its not,a race, I am so glad to have foo.d it and to be so much more,aware of the senses and nature and appreciation of everything in my life.

[JonW]

I really notice the difference on the occasional days when my schedule is too busy to allow for formal practice.

[BioSattva]

Of course it has to be every day to deliver what MBSR has become known and famous for. If one doesn't follow the standard prescribed methodology, then one arrives in a different place. The methodology is made clear for specific reasons - not just to make the person writing it sound like they know what they are talking about, or just because they want to create their own particular 'style' of therapy or something.

One of the main reasons I defected from a core of traditional Zen Buddhism to MBSR is because so many 'committed and experienced zennists' were not apparently interested in daily seated mindfulness practice - and especially not daily for 45 minutes each time. They acted like reading about it or translating the teachings, or having had some deep insights 10 years ago was enough to consider themselves 'zen' practitioners. That frustrated me a lot, because I had found after my own initial tussles with disciplined daily seated practice that once it becomes daily, it is only then that the true 'journey' seems to begin.

Here's Kabat-Zinn in Full Catastrophe Living (2005), in his Introduction, p14:

whether you use the tapes or not, anybody who is interested in achieving the kind of results seen in the stress clinic should understand that our patients make a strong commitment to practice the formal techniques as described in this book on a daily basis for a period of at least eight weeks. They are required to practice with the tapes for forty-five minutes per day, six days per week, over the eight weeks.

If one doesn't follow the instructions, one doesn't arrive in the right place. Simple - there are no shortcuts. Zen monks in the East have been trying all sorts of methodologies to get there faster in the past - LSD, becoming a samurai, etc., and even in America hypnotism has been used, but none of it has produced anything resembling what MBSR provides.

After the 8 week course, that does not mean everything is over with regards to practice, and one's life has now been 'sorted' - far from it, this is just the beginning, as Kabat-Zinn says on p247:

It is not only the major turning points in our lives that require us to adapt. Every day we face a range of moderately important to trivial obstacles and occurrences with which we have to deal, whether we want to or not, and which we may turn into much larger problems than they need to be if we lose our perspective and balance of mind.

Whether we like it or not, we are all on our way to (or even coping with) old age, sickness, and death, whether our own or other peoples', and this can hit us - unpredictably - at any moment. If this does not instill a sense of lifelong urgency in someone who has already arrived at MBSR after having to deal with any kind of serious stress, then may they be incredibly lucky in their future life, since they are going to need some serious good fortune to traverse the potential suffering which lies ahead. This isn't anything revelatory, is it? We all know what happens as we age and consider our impending inevitable death. There is the key factor of age coming into the equation - so many famous ancient 'spiritual' teachers - the Jesus and Buddha to name but a couple - really started their 'practice' around 30 years old - when aging really seems to reveal itself. This was the case for myself, also.

On this theme of a continued, necessary lifelong mindfulness practice, here is JKZ in Full Catastrophe Living, p431:

The most important part of the work of mindfulness is to keep your practice alive. The way you do that is to do it. It needs to become part of your life, in the same way that eating is or working is. We keep the practice alive by making time for being, for nondoing, no matter how much rearranging it takes. Making a time for formal practice every day is like feeding yourself every day. It is that important.

And p435:

BEYOND EIGHT WEEKS:
• Sit every day. If you feel the sitting is your major form of practice, sit for at least twenty minutes at a time, and preferably thirty to forty-five minutes. If you feel the body scan is your major form of practice, then make sure you sit as well for at least five to ten minutes per day. If you are having a "bad" day and have "absolutely no time," then sit for three minutes or even one minute. Anybody can find three minutes or one minute.

Anyway, turning to your OP, Gareth, which is great, the following made twitch slightly:

The brain’s natural tendency is towards mindlessness, only regular mindfulness practice can teach the brain how to remain more in the present moment.

I recently posted a blog essay titled: Human Evolutionary Psychology & Internal Tension Dynamics which started with the following quote from the Cambridge University Press book Evolutionary Psychology - An Introduction (2004), by Lance Workman and Will Reader, p169:

"Human nature is frequently thought to be concerned with the ‘red in tooth and claw’ aspects of behaviour such as sex, violence and food. ...there is good reason to think that our moral sensibility might be part of our biological endowment too as it plays a crucial role in enabling us to co-exist by making reciprocal altruism possible. It seems that morality is part and parcel of human nature rather than being something that merely enables us to rise above it."

Ok, so this is regarding morality, but if it is considered moral to be mindful of our cooperators' situations within our group, then maybe mindfulness spontaneously manifests under specific, simpler conditions. Philosophers often refer to the 'natural wisdom' of tribes which follow extremely ancient patterns of survival on this planet. From the same above book, p199:

"Along with the Inuit (Eskimo) and the Aboriginals of Australia, the !Kung San [of Africa] are one of few hunter-gatherer societies that has retained a lifestyle that was common to all peoples prior to the invention of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. [...] !Kung men vary quite considerably in their hunting prowess, but all meat killed is shared. The band will frequently produce four or five two-man teams which hunt simultaneously, but only one of these needs to be successful in a big game hunt to provide meat for the entire band. When a pair of hunters kills, say a wildebeest, each hunter will divide his share among his relatives who, in turn, share with their next of kin. Given that band members are all either blood relatives or related through marriage, in this way everybody receives some meat. This habit of sharing is considered to be of great social significance. A lapse of such generosity is considered a grave social sin and individuals who fail to comply lose status and prestige. Even acting in a boastful way about kills is considered a social taboo."

Later the authors write, p169:

"If morals are so useful (and we must assume that they are) why didn’t natural selection just wire in strong moral sentiments? [...] ...perhaps the optimal moral strategy is contingent upon the particular historical, cultural and social context in which the individual finds him or herself. ...when the optimal strategy is contingent, hard wiring makes little sense. If, for instance, you are born with a very strong moral sentiment, you might find yourself outcompeted by conspecifics who are prepared to cheat, steal and lie. On the other hand, if you were to be born with few moral sentiments, you might be ostracised by a community of high-moralists. In the same way that it might pay to adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach to reproductive strategy, the same might apply to morality."

To say that the human mind has a natural tendency towards mindlessness could easily be mistaken for reinforcing a prevailing Christian notion of 'Original Sin', which according to the above studies, is not necessarily true. Human nature is apparently more fluid and adaptable than this. Is a mother (of any animal species), caring for it's child with deep compassion and focused attention, naturally - instinctively - mindless when living her life? Is a cat, let alone a human, 'naturally mindless' when stalking it's prey, or sunning itself, or cleaning it's fur with it's tongue?

I think one really needs to be careful here when defining what human nature is with regards to mindfulness. Are cats (and possibly all other 'lesser' animals) blessed with permanent mindfulness while humans are cursed with their brains naturally/instinctively tending towards mindlessness? We are just more complex animals, it seems, so I would side with the adaptive/flexible angle that humans can tend towards mindlessness, but that doesn't mean they always will instinctively. Just look at some poor animals in zoos - trapped, dislocated from their 'natural habitat', and one will probably see mindlessness there too.

Maybe within the context most humans presently find themselves there is often a witnessed human tendency towards mindlessness, but I do not think this is a key universal property of the human brain.

[Gareth]

I take your point, and I think that the addition of the word can makes it a better sentence, so I will definitely make that change.

Mindlessness isn't necessarily a bad thing. The whole idea for this site and this forum came from me thinking about the future - mindlessness if you like. For me, mindfulness has helped me me to identify the "dangerous" kinds of mindlessness and bring myself back from them. Does anybody else think of it in this way?

[BioSattva]

For me, mindfulness has helped me me to identify the "dangerous" kinds of mindlessness and bring myself back from them. Does anybody else think of it in this way?

I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. What is an example of 'safe' mindlessness?

[Gareth]

For me, mindlessness simply means not being in the present moment and being lost in thought. That is entirely necessary sometimes when planning (not over planning) a future event. Or sometimes enjoyable (although not entirely productive) like thinking back to an enoyable moment in your life.

Mindlessness gets dangerous when you start to tell yourself how things are going to be bad in the future, or how things were better in the past.

[BioSattva]

I'm not sure one needs to be 'lost in thought' to plan an event, though?

As far as I'm aware, one can be mindful all the time. I mean, planning takes place in the present moment, and recalling takes place in the present moment - it seems one doesn't have to leave the present moment in order to do these things - one can be aware of the mind doing them.

If I'm drawing up a plan .... well,.... I'm drawing up a plan - here, now. It seems mindfulness is more about maintaining the mind-body connection while doing what one does. The mind and body 'want' to be one, but certain habitual delusions and appetites fed by wrong conceptions about what we are - judgements imposed on 'what is' - separate mind and body and the two go off into different places.

I consider accepting being 'lost in thought' at any point dangerous. This is how one's toast gets burnt, or one forgets to lock the door. I can accept being lost in thought at times (which is often!), however if I manage to feel what's going on at that time, I tend to feel that I became lost in thought due to a habit of not accepting things as they are, and must anchor myself with my breath.

[BioSattva]

Full Catastrophe Living, p26:

It is not that mindfulness is the "answer" to all life's problems. Rather it is that all life's problems can be seen more
clearly through the lens of a clear mind.

There is a difference between planning and recalling, and fantasising. Fantasising is placing oneself in another situation - another place, or another time. Planning and recalling are apparently making predictions and 'watching a movie of the past' in the present moment and place.

[Tzu]

I've been meditating inconsistenly for a year (2-4 times a week) and consistently for the last 6 weeks (6 times a week at 15 minutes per day). I'm surprised by how I feel more settled and willing to sit with stuff that bothers me longer since I've started being consistent.

I don't get why. Maybe it's just where I'm at on my path of recovery coupled with the mindfulness.

I do notice if I miss a session. This holiday weekend, I was gardening all three days (removing rudbeckia gone wild) so I spent 8 or more hours a day pulling out this stuff. I got a lot of time to just be in that moment. It wasn't my usual on the cushion time.

It doesn't matter why it's making a difference. It is. I'm continuing. Due to meditation practice, I'm learning to be self - compassionate. My mind is like a puppy that wanders off. It's what minds do, not just puppies. Why be mean to a puppy? Be kind to a puppy. Be kind to your mind. When it wanders off, it's just doing what it does.

Bring it back to the breath or to the guided meditation being used. Be kind since what matters is that you noticed.

I am a scientist (flavor chemist) and I like to understand the scientific basis that underlies an outcome. I'm learning that I don't get my mind. My mind if a prodigious generator of stuff, some helpful, some not, some whatever.

The mindfulness seems to lower the size of the gate I need to straddle to be free. I feel stuff rise up that I'm working on. Sometimes, it doesn't feel good. But it is meaningful.

Honestly, I don't get me, my mind. I do get I'm working through the wreckage of my past. Mindfulness is helping me navigate it and to feel my way through the pain and to not lose myself in it.

This is streaming consciousness and I'm not editing it prior to posting. So take it for what it is. A moment in my life. And reading it, it's a moment in yours.

TzuZen
notice * pause * choose