Hello, I’m Ashley Lodge and I’m responsible for Pearson’s Mindfulness Programme. The
aim of this video is to give you a quick introduction to Mindfulness with a focus on how it can
help us during uncertain or difficult situations. So what exactly is mindfulness? The best definition
I tend to use is that of Jon Kabat-Zinn one the major figures in introducing western audiences
to practices that have their origins in the East. He calls it: “... paying attention
in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.”
Unpacking those three things: Purpose: we need to be clear about our intention
- to use mindfulness to create a sense of calm and peace, of focus and attention.
Present Moment: We can only live in the present moment because the past is done and the future
is yet to come. Judgementality: we constantly make judgements
about all the information coming to us on a moment to moment basis to see whether it’s
a threat to us. The trouble with doing this is that it can often lead us to creating false
stories about the information. Being non-judgemental helps stop this.
So Mindfulness is essentially about awareness. It is about training our attention to notice
our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and anything around us that is happening right now, without
judging them. By doing this, we step away from automatic responses and observe what
it means to be in the present with an open mind. This can help us to be calmer and make
better, more skillful decisions. At the same time as developing awareness we are also cultivating
a sense of kindness and compassion to ourselves. Mindfulness isn’t just about training the
mind – it’s also about reconnecting with the body, the emotions and our behaviour.
Emotions and feelings can affect the body and our actions, and vice versa. Just as thinking
can cause physical reactions (for example, feeling anxious can cause ‘butterflies’
in the stomach), so our bodies can affect our thinking. We often forget how much subtle
tension we’re holding in our shoulders and neck for example.
Mindfulness helps us stop analysing emotions and emotional problems and instead sense them
more easily when they start. By becoming aware of emotions, we can try to deal with them
before they grow too strong or start to take over our thinking. Mindfulness can help us
understand better when our own stress and anxiety starts to kick in and can help calm
those feelings (through simple exercises such as focusing on the breath) before they start
to affect us in more negative ways. What we’ve been learning in recent years
from neuroscience is how mindfulness can help rewire our brains to work in better, calmer,
more positive ways. For example, people who are worriers tend to have more neural activity
in the area around the amygdala which sits in the middle of the brain in the part which
houses the limbic system. This is the bit of the brain which is responsible for the
‘fight or flight’ response which has helped us as a species survive from when our prehistoric
ancestors spotted a predator such as sabre-toothed tigers and helped ensure they didn’t end
up as their lunch. The response would release cortisol and adrenaline
into our ancestors’ bodies to get them ready to escape. Luckily for us encountering a predator
is rare nowadays but we can still encounter the same ‘fight or flight’ response when
we experience stress or anxiety. An example of this is how we react to a perceived threat
or issue such as Coronavirus. The same fear response kicks in, as part of our survival
mechanism and cortisol and adrenaline are released into the system causing the heart
rate to go up, making us feel jittery and a bit sweaty. This can leave us feeling uneasy
and panicky. Yet these are the very times when it’s important for us to create, as
best we can, a sense of calm which can help us respond in wiser, more rational, less panicky
ways. The good news is that we also have a part
of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, associated with calmer, wiser behaviours. This is also
connected with focus, emotional regulation and cognitive flexibility. We can now use
fMRI to scan people’s brains to see how after a mindfulness course the neural activity
around the bit of the brain associated with stress, the amygdala, is reduced and activity
within the part of the brain associated with calm increases in the prefrontal cortex. We
believe what is effectively happening is a rewiring of the brain increasing the neural
connections and density of the grey matter in that part of the brain. We call this phenomenon
neuroplasticity. Mindfulness can help us stay calm as it creates
a pause whereby we can listen to the body, feel as the stress response starts and then
offers us ways to return to a sense of calm through connecting back to the sensations
of the breath and body. Very often, it is easy to want to spring straight
into action when we perceive a threat or issue. This is called doing mode – it helps us
to get things done in response to difficult news or situations, but doesn’t always consider
the wisest, calmest way of tackling the task or situation.
Mindfulness helps by giving us a moment to pause and enter being mode. This allows time
for us to ground yourselves and be fully focused on the present moment, so we experience things
more fully. Usually this will help us to take a calmer and wiser approach to a situation,
which will mean we’re more effective at dealing with them and improves our own mental
health and wellbeing during difficult times. When we take time to slow down and live in
a more moment-to-moment way, we are able to experience life more fully and appreciatively
even when there are difficult things going on in the world. This can then help to create
a greater sense of calm. Mindfulness can also help us accept how things
are right here and now rather than striving for them to be different. When things are
out of our control then accepting what we can or can’t easily change takes away the
artificial pressure we can often create for ourselves. This then allows us to be kinder
to ourselves and find new ways to being okay with whatever is happening in the present.
Looking after our mental health and wellbeing during difficult times is essential. Just
like learning any new skill or developing any new habit, mindfulness is something that
has to be practised daily to have richer benefits. Doing daily practices of 10 minutes or so
can really help us to move our awareness to be fully in the present moment in a non-judgemental
way, helping us to avoid overthinking, which can lead to worry, anxiety and stress.
I hope this video has given you a helpful introduction to mindfulness and how it can
help keep us calm and focused when we encounter difficulty. Looking after our own mental health
in such times is just as important as looking after our physical health too.
To accompany this video there is an audio file of the guided breath and body practice
which provides an excellent introduction to mindfulness and the kind of practices we do.
Anyone can use this but please remember if you’re currently undertaking any counselling
or therapy for more serious issues you may be dealing with please always check with your
clinician first.