People often discredit mindfulness so quickly (I was one of these people)....and there is a science that explains why.
I'd like to provide a personal backstory on my own aversion to mindfulness. Before I share, lets first review a brief definition of mindfulness:
Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing one's awareness on the present moment while acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
When I was in grad school, I learned about mindfulness as a therapeutic method to help clients cope with various symptoms and fundamentally heal from mental or physical struggles. All while learning the technique, I would practice mindfulness in my day-to-day to see if It could help with the stress of grad school. I personally did not find it helpful so I put it on the back burner of therapeutic tools to use with clients unless I really felt it would be useful for that individual. The phrase, "what works for some people may not work for others" is typically engrained in a counseling grad student's brain. I would then only offer it if my client presented as extremely likely to be receptive to the modality. I'd always explain the method and let my client choose if they wanted to proceed with a mindfulness exercise or example. In all the time practicing or facilitating, I never felt generally excited about the method.
Eventually, I had to ask myself, "Why do I have an aversion to mindfulness?" I realized that for me to fully understand a method, I have to understand the neurological science first, which brings me to the next question, "How does mindfulness work?"
How does mindfulness work?
Studies show that when people engage in mindfulness, they are using the pre-frontal cortex, or the area of the brain that is responsible for cognitive control, memory, organizing information, learning, attention, and voluntary movements. Essentially, practicing mindfulness increases brain activity responsible for attention.
The attention networks in the brain are active all the time- when, recalling memories or experiences from the past, thinking of the future, thinking about others, using empathy to imagine how others feel, concentrating on a task, listening to what others are saying, etc. When we engage in mindfulness, we are activating these brain regions and many neural networks at once. Practicing cognitive control allows for stronger neural networks to be established. Practicing shifting unpleasant emotions to neutral or positive emotions will strengthen that pleasant neural loop.
The process of mindfulness also activates the parasympathetic nervous system which is responsible for calming the body after a stress response, which helps you feel more relaxed.
There are countless studies that illustrate how regular mindfulness practice increases the amount of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex. The practice of mindfulness can be compared to lifting weights to build more muscle. The more you lift and the heavier you lift, the stronger the muscles will get. The brain works the same way- the more brain areas are activated, the stronger they become.
Watch this video for a great visual representation of how the brain works during mindfulness.
While there are many benefits, mindfulness aversion is still a possible outcome of mindfulness practice so it's important to understand why and be aware of situations when it would not be helpful.
The mindfulness aversion
Many people, like myself (back when I first tried mindfulness), will try mindfulness, or what they think is mindfulness, and become frustrated or jump to the conclusion that it just doesn't work for them. The common disapproving opinions on mindfulness are related to thoughts such as:
"my mind wanders too much."
" I feel more stressed after trying mindfulness because I can't control my thoughts."
"I have too many problems for this to work for me."
"This sounds a little too vague or nonsensical for me."
"I'm nervous about what will come up if I just sit and try to be present."
"I feel like I'm going through the motions but don't feel anything significant."
All of these thoughts and reasons that deter people from practicing mindfulness are valid. We are all able to experience distaste for certain things and those emotions are there for a reason.
For many people, especially those who experienced trauma, mindfulness practice may not feel safe. In many cases, individuals with a trauma history will experience intrusive thoughts (including flashback memories), and unpleasant emotions, which will activate their stress response system rather than their relaxation response system. This is because the physical body has a way of absorbing and holding onto unprocessed trauma. The physical and emotional sensations are stored as a means of a defense mechanism that is a natural part of human wiring.
Here is an example of what an individual with a trauma history will experience during mindfulness practice:
Client's thoughts: "Ok, I'm going to close my eyes and focus on my breath."
Brain: "Closing my eyes is unsafe- I can't scan my environment for danger."
Client's thoughts: "Ok let me try keeping my eyes open."
Brain: "that's better."
Client's thoughts: "let me focus on how I feel."
Brain: being quiet and still is a trigger. I felt quiet and stillness before I was physically attacked. Every time I was not being hurt, I was living in fear and anticipating when I would be attacked again. The absence of immediate danger almost feels just as dangerous to my body.
Client's thoughts: "I feel vulnerable, like something bad is about to happen."
Brain: "Let's activate the sympathetic nervous system to get you ready for any possible danger. I'm going to slow your digestion rate, increase your heart rate, and release cortisol and adrenaline so you can remember this moment as a threat and get you ready to fight, run away, or freeze.
Client: "I need to get out of here."
Brain: "Ok we're safe again."
This is a very common progression and an example of when mindfulness would not be recommended for an individual. Instead of the brain strengthening feelings of safety and working to re-wire unpleasant thoughts, the brain strengthened the thought that "being quiet and still means I'm vulnerable and a real threat will soon follow."
When an individual with a trauma history finds that they are constantly replaying the trauma and experience more stress during the exercise, they are encouraged to stop the technique immediately and engage in another coping skill that they are more receptive to. For clients with a trauma history, engaging in grounding techniques is a safer first step. They can learn to focus their attention on the characteristics that make their physical environment safe. They also would benefit from obtaining specific trauma therapy before engaging in mindfulness practice. When they feel that they are able to calmly focus their attention inward, control their thoughts, and practice self-love and compassion during mindfulness, it is then safe for them to engage in the practice.
When mindfulness is deemed safe for an individual, and they practice it regularly, it can offer countless benefits to their brain and overall well-being.
Benefits
Studies show that mindfulness practice can:
reduce stress and anxiety
increase working memory
increase attention
decrease rumination tendencies
decrease emotional reactivity
increase cognitive flexibility
increase self-love and self-worth
increase immune system
increase neural processing speed
Below are some steps on how to overcome mindfulness aversion and absorb all the benefits of mindfulness practice.
How to be more Mindful
Acknowledge if you have a trauma history- if so, practice specific grounding techniques only until mindfulness feels safe. If you do not have a trauma history or feel safe to engage in mindfulness practice, continue with the steps below.
Find a physical space that feels safe and comfortable.
Designate time to be present. Start small and slowly build the practicing time as you become more comfortable.
Focus on slowing down your breathing. You can do square breathing or belly breathing.
Allow yourself to tune inward and notice any physical or emotional sensations come up for you.
Accept any thoughts that come up during mindfulness practice. Your body is telling you something for many possible reasons: 1) it's natural to have intrusive thoughts that trigger memories and emotions, 2) your response may be highlighting an issue that needs more healing work in order to feel peace, 3) you may be focused on emotions (pleasant or unpleasant) that relate to a certain theme which is highlighting unprocessed trauma or it may be highlighting your values, 4) you're searching for clarity on a particular situation 5) you're ruminating on what is stressing you out. All of these thoughts and sensations are normal and a natural response when first practicing mindfulness. Notice these thoughts and sensations with love and compassion for yourself. Embody curiosity rather than judgment.
Use a grounding technique to redirect your thoughts back to your present environment.
Understand that your mindfulness practice may not be a peaceful experience from the start. There are many aversive responses some people have to mindfulness. This is due to a variety of reasons, so in this case, I would recommend just practicing grounding techniques (which is a short-form mindfulness exercise) that requires focusing on very specific things which reduces the time spent with wandering thoughts.
Reminders
Be curious about yourself.
Understand that your mindfulness practice doesn't always feel relaxing. It depends on a variety of factors including preceding stress levels, nutritive fuel, environmental noise, etc.
Sources
How does mindfulness affect the brain? (n.d.). https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/mindfulness-my-brain
How Does Mindfulness Change the Brain? A neurobiologist’s perspective on mindfulness meditation – Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. (n.d.). https://mpfi.org/how-does-mindfulness-change-the-brain-a-neurobiologists-perspective-on-mindfulness-meditation/?gclid=CjwKCAiAu5agBhBzEiwAdiR5tCp8fnmyGQW3_oIMYTOU4sO1r9_9QK07XSJ-40WumzKemQukMb4lnhoCHRYQAvD_BwE
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