0 \ W K V $ E R X W 0 L Q G I X O Q H V V &25(&21&(37 0LVFRQFHSWLRQVDERXWPLQGIXOQHVVFDQLQWHUIHUH ZLWKWKHHI IHFWLYHSUDFWLFHRIWKHVHVNLOOV 0DQ\SHRSOHWKHUDSLVWVLQFOXGHGKDYHPLVFRQFHSWLRQVDERXWZKDW PLQGIXOQHVVLVDQGZKDWLWLVQRW6RPHWLPHVWKHVHPLVFRQFHSWLRQVJHWLQ WKHZD\RIHQJDJLQJLQPLQGIXOQHVVSUDFWLFH%HORZDUHVRPHRIWKHPRVW FRPPRQP\WKVDERXWPLQGIXOQHVV 0LQGIXOQHVVLV%XGGKLVW RUVRPHRWKHUSKLORVRSK\RUU HOLJLRQ :KLOHDODU JHYDULHW\RISKLORVRSKLHVDQGUHOLJLRQVSURPRWHPLQGIXOQHVV SUDFWLFHVPLQGIXOQHVVLVEHVWWKRXJKWRIDVDKXPDQDFWLYLW\WKDWLVRZQHG E\QRJURXSRUSHUVRQ0LQGIXOQHVVEHORQJVWRXVDOODQGIXUWKHUPRUH PLQGIXOQHVVDQGLWVEHQHILWVDUHVXSSRUWHGE\UREXVWUHVHDUFKWKDWFOHDUO\ VKRZVLWVSV\FKRORJLFDOHPRWLRQDOSK\VLFDODQGSHUIRUPDQFHEDVHG EHQHILWV 0LQGIXOQHVVLVDOOQHZDJH\ ZDY\JUDY\ RU LQVHUW\RXUMXGJPHQW KHU H )RUVRPHUHDVRQPLQGIXOQHVVVHHPVWRFRQMXUHLPDJHVRISHRSOHLQIORZLQJ UREHVVLWWLQJLQVHUHQHVHWWLQJVH[LVWLQJLQVRPHXQUHDOZRUOGGLVFRQQHFWHG IURP\RXURUP\UHDOLW\ DGPLWWHGO\ PDQ\SKRWRVVKRZLQJSHRSOH SUDFWLFLQJPLQGIXOQHVVSURPRWHWKRVHVWHUHRW\SHV 7KHIDFWVDUHWKDW PLQGIXOQHVVLVIRUHYHU\RQHDQGWKDWSHRSOHDFURVVDOOUDFHVHWKQLFLWLHV FXOWXUHVUHOLJLRQVRFFXSDWLRQVDQGVRFLRHFRQRPLFVWDWXVHVSUDFWLFH PLQGIXOQHVV 0LQGIXOQHVVLVDIDGRUWU HQG 0LQGIXOQHVVKDVEHHQDURXQGVLQFHWKHGDZQRIFRQVFLRXVQHVVPDNLQJWKH %HDWOHVRU5ROOLQJ6WRQHVORRNOLNHIDGVE\FRPSDULVRQ1RWPXFKVWDQGV WKDWWHVWRIWLPH:KHQWKHHQGRIWKHZRUOGFRPHVRQO\FRFNURDFKHVDQG .HLWK5LFKDUGVSUDFWLFLQJPLQGIXOQHVVZLOOUHPDLQ(QRXJKVDLG Mindfulness takes a lot of time While some advocates of mindfulness stress 45 minutes (or more) of meditation or other mindfulness practice daily, the fact is that you can achieve benefits from taking just a few minutes (or even moments in some cases) to re-center yourself mindfully in the moment. When you consider how much time we all spend distracted by problems, taking a few minutes to breathe or otherwise practice mindfulness is a great trade-off. People who practice mindfulness are always mindful (and effective) A mindfulness student once saw his teacher eating while watching TV. Angry at the apparent hypocrisy of doing more than one thing at a time, the student challenged his teacher. “You always teach One-Mindfulness, lecturing ‘when you walk, walk, when you pray, pray, and when you eat, eat,’ and now I see you both eating and watching TV!” The teacher calmly replied, “When you eat and watch TV, eat and watch TV.” Mindfulness does not create perfection, and practitioners will likely experience the benefits but will certainly not always be in the moment. Further, seeking to be ever-mindful means you are clinging to a goal and as such are not in the moment. Mindfulness is done only during meditation or other mindfulness practice This myth is one of the biggest, and it is analogous to saying people only move their bodies when they exercise. Think of meditation and other mindfulness practice as exercise for the brain, building the skills needed to collect and focus your attention and then guide your behavior. Just as physical fitness is about developing a healthy body, meditation and other mindfulness practices are about building healthy mental processes so you can be mindful in the moments of everyday life. Mindfulness is only about pleasure, peace, and relaxation While mindfulness can be pleasurable and promote peace and relaxation, mindfulness is also about relating to experiences that can be aversive, uncomfortable, and even painful. Think about how often we try to escape these types of experiences only to make them worse! Perhaps, paradoxically, using mindfulness to accept and relate to what is painful can transform the painful experience; mindfulness is fundamentally acceptance based and nonjudgmental, which alleviates the helping of suffering we often dump on pain. Mindfulness can turn off problems, or otherwise make them go away Mindfulness is not about turning anything on or off. Rather, it is about deciding what to focus on and when. What mindfulness can offer is a way to attend to something other than your problems when you choose to take a break, and a way to focus on your problems when you decide to—but with a different approach that can reduce your suffering, as mentioned above. People with attention deficit, racing thoughts, intrusive thinking, or other problems cannot practice mindfulness Mindfulness does not turn problems off or make them go away, but it is a set of skills you can practice to eventually minimize the impacts of these problems on your life. For example, if your problem is racing thoughts, you can simply notice when they distract you (gently and nonjudgmentally) and then turn your mind to the chosen focus of your attention. If your problem is attention deficit, then practicing the skill of (re)focusing your attention (i.e., mindfulness) is perfect for you! Children, people with cognitive disabilities, and (insert another category of people) cannot do mindfulness Watch young children eat, play with their toys, and explore. They are engrossed, and there . This is mindfulness. People of most developmental and cognitive levels have the ability to focus their attention and connect to the present moment, and can have that ability fostered. To this end, having a parent, friend, or loved one practice mindful engagement with them will gently pull along their mindfulness skills, even if they cannot explain mindfulness conceptually. For those without abstract thought, we simply make explanations of mindfulness more concrete. As an example, with young children we can simply say “smell the flowers and blow out the candles” to engage them in the mindful practice of breathing. You are unable to do mindfulness See above, and also remember that you already practice mindfulness sometimes, with some things, in some places. Where and with what do you find yourself totally connected and inhabiting the moment? Maybe it is when you play an instrument or sport, or when you are doing a hobby, or into the flow of your work. Maybe it’s when you’re in your garden, when you’re cooking, or when you’re connecting spiritually. Use existing times of mindfulness to branch out and develop your skills, remembering that mindfulness is like any other skill set: You get out of it what you put into it. Practice your practice, and the rewards will come with time.