Mindfulness for Busy People

Dr. Kumari Fernando Valentine

Clinical Psychologist/ Senior Lecturer (University of Otago)

www.kumari.co.nz

E: kumari@kumari.co.nz

www.kumarifernandoblog.wordpress.com

Objectives

• Define what mindfulness is (and isn’t)

• Understand the benefits of mindfulness

• Do some mindfulness exercises

• Make suggestions about how to incorporate it into your day (so that your life is enhanced)

Attention to Breath

Definition

• There are many definitions of mindfulness. A working definition is that it is attention that is: – based on the present-moment

– conscious

– deliberate

– gentle/compassionate

– non-evaluative

• We make a deliberate choice to redirect our attention even for a few moments to the present in a non evaluative way.

Definition

• Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non judgementally

Kabat-Zinn 1990

• Shapiro et al. (2006): intention, attention (self-observation without judgement) and attitude (compassion vs. self-deprecating)

Grounding Exercise

What does Mindfulness look like?

• Every day life! (but different)

• Group practice (typically 8-12 weeks)

• 1:1 individual work (e.g., with a therapist)

– Part of some therapies

• Listening to a guided exercise (e.g., online)

• (Eastern) Spiritual Practice vs (Western) Laboratory

Benefits

• Useful in anxiety, depression, psychosis, psoriasis, chronic pain, cancer, fibromyalgia

• Increase antibody response to the flu vaccine • Improves cellular functioning in HIV Baer, 2003

• Chronic low back pain, ADHD • Lower anger, worry, distress, stress • Better executive attention • Ability to accurately recognise and label emotions • Emotion regulation – prefrontal cortex • More refined self-awareness • Better processing of distracting events and emotions

Greeson, 2008

• More time = better results

Benefits

• For patients with 3+ episodes, mindfulness (MBCBT) reduced relapse over 60 weeks over CBT (N= 145; Teasdale et al., 2000)

• Decrease in relapse from 78% to 36% (Ma &

Teasdale, 2004; recovered patients treated)

Shoes exercise

• What do (the person you are sitting beside’s) shoes say about the type of person they are?

Shoes (part 2)

• How would you describe the shoes to a blind person? Try to be objective and descriptive

Thinking

• So much of the time, our minds are occupied with thinking and judging.

• We judge our experiences and ourselves. We struggle constantly with our thoughts.

• We may try to not think! That doesn’t work! Neither does overthinking!

Side track: Rumination (overthinking)

• Repetitive, passive, not goal-directed

• Exacerbates and prolongs sad mood and anxiety

• We think we are gaining insight…and solving problems

• In contrast to – Problem-solving

– Reflection

– Mindfulness

Our Mind as a Chatterbox

• Our mind is always coming up with stories/judgements.

• We are constantly evaluating (and judging our experiences).

• We are also constantly judging our experiences and struggling with our pain/experiences.

• When we are mindful, we accept our experiences as they are. This doesn’t mean we think they are fun/great/wonderful. It simply means that we stop struggling.

Thoughts as Leaves Exercise

Pain vs Suffering

Pain

Suffering

Body Scan exercise

Some Myths

• Symptom reduction

• Relaxation strategy

• Distraction or ignoring our thoughts. • Some people consider mindfulness and mediation the

same. You don’t have to.

• A gimmick or a quick fix – it is a discipline that we commit to.

The “dialetics” of Mindfulness

• Activity vs. Passivity

• Wanting vs. Not-wanting

• Change vs. Not-Change

• Non-judging vs. Non-Reacting

• Active Acceptance vs. Passive Acceptance

– Silver lining vs. holding Sauer, 2011

Black Dog Institute

Everyday Mindfulness

• Observe (attend to events and emotions)

• Describe (apply labels)

• Participate

• Take a “no-judgement” approach

• Focus on one thing at a time

• Be effective (do what is needed, rather than second guessing or worrying about what is right)

Mindfulness in Everyday Life

• Every day activities can be done mindfully • Eating mindfully means really tasting the food, pausing

perhaps, smelling the food, noticing textures… • We can walk mindfully – noticing the texture of the

ground beneath us, being alert to how our body moves.

• We can listen mindfully – being present to what the other person has to say in a non-judgemental fashion (not thinking about what we want to say, judging them or anticipating our turn).

• Bear in mind that we are developing a skill – there is no such thing as “bad practice”!

Everyday Mindfulness

• …place every single cup, plate, bowl, spoon, knife and fork with the greatest of care; to put each item down gently, noticing the sound it made as it slotted into place; to notice the colors and patterns that food and drink have left on the various surfaces; to notice the movements of his shoulder, arm and hand. And I reminded him “As you do this, let your mind chatter away like a radio in the background…”

Everyday Mindfulness

• …notice the patterns of the droplets on the shower screen, the sensations of the water on your skin, the smell of the shampoo and soap, and the sound of the spray coming out of the nozzle.

Everyday Mindfulness

• … pause for a moment before your first bite, and notice the different aromas of the various ingredients and the colors, shapes and textures of the different foods. Then, as you cut up the food, notice the sounds made by your cutlery and the movements of your hands and arms and shoulders. And as you eat the first mouthful, notice the tastes and textures in your mouth, as if you were a gourmet food critic who has never tasted a meal like this before.

Everyday Mindfulness

• Walking

• Listening

• Watching TV

• Listening to the radio

• Driving

• Drinking (a cup of lovingly prepared) tea

• Cleaning

Compassion Generation Exercise