Although the mindfulness approach is Buddhist based, the western culture was first introduced to it in 1972 by Prof. Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn at MIT University (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). In the same years, Jon Kabat Zinn developed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program.
We would like to define Mindfulness for you right now. We hear many definitions around us, but we can think of the simplest and clearest definition as follows; "It is the ability to look with awareness with a clear, kind, non-judgmental and compassionate attention with a specific intention (effort).
You may also hear the common definition of mindfulness.
Let's experience a very short practice together.
"Let's sit in a calm and undisturbed place, keeping our spine as straight as possible. Please don't make yourself uncomfortable, you can sit in a chair or an armchair. Let's settle comfortably in the space we are in. Your eyes can be closed if you are comfortable or you can look at a certain point on the floor.
First of all, let's hold our breath and let it out naturally without holding it and start watching. For convenience here, you can say that I am taking it in and giving it out. This can make it easier for you to follow your breath.
First, we ask you to pay attention to the soles of your feet. Is the area in contact with the ground hard or soft? Is there a difference in the contact between the soles of your right foot and the soles of your left foot? Let's look without any judgment, just what do we feel?
Then slowly we ask you to pay attention to your ankles and legs. Let's not stop watching the breath, pleaseJ How are your legs in contact with the ground? Is there a difference between the right leg, the left leg? Do you feel any warmth, coldness, numbness or itching? Leave your feet and legs as relaxed as possible now.
Go back to breathing, saying 'in' as you inhale and 'out' as you exhale. Now bring your attention to your abdomen with a gentle and compassionate awareness. Is there any movement in your abdomen and lungs with your breathing? Again, relax your upper body as much as possible.
Now let's bring our attention to the shoulders. Are you squeezing your shoulders, are they tight, are they upward or downward, relax your neck and shoulders. Now we can pay attention to our whole face. Relax the eyes, the mouth, the cheeks, the teeth. Feel the roots of the hair. Is the head hot or cold? And when we feel ready, please open our eyes and start looking around, what do we see?
This is a small mindfulness body scanning practice. If you do this practice every morning or evening for 5 minutes whenever it is convenient for you, you can start to increase your awareness.
The mind is programmed to move. It goes back to the past and thinks "why did this happen?" "I wish I hadn't done that" etc., but this is of no use to us, to the present moment. Similarly, it goes to the future and says, "What will be the end of this? What will I do if this happens or that happens?" Immediately thoughts of anxiety can start and nothing has happened yet. It is difficult for the mind to be fully aware of the present moment. It is possible to settle into this moment by using our breath like the anchor that a boat uses to settle.
In other words, Mindfulness is being able to stay in the present moment with the intellectual and emotional state without trying to change anything, without being attached to the passing emotions.
Knowing that the duration of emotions in our minds is actually 1.5 minutes shows that letting them pass without holding on to them is a liberating knowledge. Therefore, you actually determine the duration of any emotion in your life. For this reason, mindfulness practices are very important in addiction recovery treatments.
Mindfulness protects you from automatic reactions. We are sure that we have all experienced this more than once in our lives and then said "oops, I wish I hadn't said that". However, people who practice mindfulness regularly start to stop living on autopilot and realize that they encounter more positive results when they reveal their reactions with awareness.
At Vitalica Wellness, we have taken care to work with an approach that combines Western and Eastern therapies. Another great benefit of mindfulness practices is that they help us transition from "doing mind" to "being mind" at the right time. So what is this doing mind and being mind? Doing mind symbolizes life with a complete Western understanding of the mind. It always makes a plan, it is the one who makes the to-do list on your office desk in the morning. Being mind; on the other hand, symbolizes the Eastern understanding of the mind. In a meditative state, it looks and watches what is happening right now. Both minds are important in areas of our lives and have undoubted benefits. Just like Eastern and western therapies.
With the regular practice of mindfulness, we see and feel that we start to say "yes to ourselves". In our age, when everyone runs kilometers away from themselves, spends hours with everyone or on a social media platform, and cannot be alone with themselves for even ten minutes, the effort to say yes to yourself is very valuable and the results are invaluable for this reason.
So is mindfulness just a meditation practice?
Of course not; it is a practice that can be with us in all areas of our lives such as mindfulness at work, mindfulness in parenting, mindfulness while walking, yoga, and meditation practices based on mindfulness provide great benefits for you.
As Vitalica Wellness, we have prepared a new detox program related to mindfulness. While purifying your body with a vegan, gluten-free, and lactose-free diet with 1200 calories a day, we wanted to focus on your mental health with various mindfulness practices. We will be very happy to accompany you on your journey from doing mind to being mind.
See you in March at Vitalica Wellness.
