mindfulness

The practice of observing one’s mind. Mindfulness is typically conflated with meditation, however not all meditation is mindful and one can practice mindfulness outside of a meditative practice.

The mindfulness instruction I’ve encountered typically starts with placing one’s attention lightly on the breath and observing one’s bodily sensations, feelings, and thoughts without judgment. When a chain of thought inevitably carries one away from this passive observation, Pema Chodron suggests simply identifying the thought by saying to oneself “thinking” and returning to the breath and sensations. The point is not to prevent thoughts or control anything, only to observe. As such, there are at least two benefits:

• Greater self-knowledge through observing how one feels and especially thinks. Since I began practicing mindfulness, I’ve been shocked to witness how much my mind is constantly chattering to itself, even when I’m doing something ostensibly relaxing. Buddhists call this “monkey mind.”
• Practice noticing mental patterns and intervening when they aren’t helpful. I’m still a novice here, but it’s my understanding that after hundreds or thousands of times catching my mind chasing some regret or worry, I’ll get better at noticing those patterns and nudging my mind in a more helpful direction.

Mental Noting

“Mental noting”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_noting) is the mindfulness practice of noticing and labeling experiences as they arise. If we get lost in thought, simply note “thinking” and move on. If we find it hard to sit still, note “restless” and move on. This practice builds the habit of noticing our thoughts and feeling as they arise, which gives us the freedom of choice about whether or not to react to them.

Thich Nhat Hanh on the fruits of mindfulness

Bhāva literally means “being there.” So, we produce, we bring something into existence, and that something is joy, peace, and freedom. In English we use the word “practice.” If our practice is good and solid, we have no need to be afraid for the future. With our practice we are training ourselves to generate joy, happiness, peace, harmony, and reconciliation, and to handle pain, suffering, separation, and misunderstanding. The opposite of mindfulness is forgetfulness. Forgetfulness means that you are pulled away by the past, by the future, by your projects, by your anger, by your fear. You’re not truly alive. Every one of us has a seed of forgetfulness and a seed of mindfulness inside, and if we train ourselves a little bit—drinking our tea mindfully, breathing in mindfully, or taking a shower mindfully—after a few days, the seed of mindfulness in us will become stronger. With mindfulness you are more concentrated, and with that concentration you’ll see things more deeply and clearly. Any decision you make will be wiser, and everything you do will have a better quality. When you’re with another person you bring more mindfulness and concentration into the relationship, and the relationship will be deeper. And with training in a daily practice of breathing, walking, and doing things with awareness, the seed of mindfulness in you can grow bigger every day. (Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen and the art of saving the planet)

Further Reading

• From WorkOnClimate.org, a resource list for mindfulness, which can help you stay calm in the face of the climate crisis. After all, as Susi Moser writes in All We Can Save, “Burnt-out people aren’t equipped to serve a burning planet … [so] the well-being of our hearts and souls must be reestablished to their rightful place as relevant, essential.”