Myths about Mindfulness

It is helpful to understand what mindfulness is and what it is not.  You will see and hear a lot about mindfulness and often it is watered down to relate to a myriad of situations and experiences that do not give it justice or encapsulate the full richness of it. These misconceptions can be barriers to practicing mindfulness and living a mindful life.
 
Blank Minds
Often, we hear the misconception that we need to have a completely blank mind to experience mindfulness by getting rid of thoughts.  This could not be further from the truth.  We just bring gentle awareness to our thoughts as they come in and out of our mind and redirect our attention to where we would like to be in the present moment such as the breath, our body, sounds.  We become aware of our thoughts, and we can choose which thoughts we can engage with.  As Jon Kabat Zinn explains ‘Like the ocean, the mind is subject to constantly changing “atmospheric conditions” including storms of varying intensities.’   We can just bring awareness to these changing mind states and associated thoughts.  It is not about clearing the mind so there is nothing there and we don’t feel anything but feeling calm.  Mindfulness really could be interchanged with the term ‘awareness’.  As we are just bringing awareness to what is, including our thoughts, and then we can choose to direct our attention away from our thoughts if we choose, and bring our attention to the present moment focus. 
 
Always feeling peaceful and relaxed
If we are mindful then somehow, we shouldn’t feel strong emotions and only feel peace.  Mindfulness is not just about feeling good.  We can tune into our strong and uncomfortable emotions as well and have present moment awareness of these without stepping into reactions.  We are not aiming to feel relaxed, calm or peaceful.  Just by being mindful, then we can feel this state as a side effect.  We are also accessing that calm and peaceful part of ourselves that is there, underneath the ‘monkey mind’ of thoughts and feelings.  Trying to push away uncomfortable feelings, just makes them stronger and pushes us further away from what we are feeling right now.  As Jon Kabat Zinn expresses, we ‘put out the welcome mat’ for all emotions.  We can be mindful when we are full of anger or anxiety, and we can be mindfully engaged in the here and now even though we don’t feel relaxed.  We allow the natural flow of emotions, feeling the full range of emotions we have such as pain, joy, anxiety, joy, contentment and allow this flow through us.  We don’t need to be feeling happy all the time and try to strive for this through out practice.
 
Successful / Unsuccessful meditation
Judging the meditation experience takes us away from just experience what is during the meditation.  If our minds wander a lot, then they have wandered a lot, and we can bring attention and awareness to this.  There is no need to judge the experience as bad, or to judge ourselves as meditators as a good or bad meditator.  If we can have no thoughts, then we can judge the meditation and ourselves as good and successful and the days we have more thoughts, then we have not managed to meditate.
 
Mindfulness is just about meditation
Practicing mindfulness is not just about sitting on a meditation mat.  We can live mindfully and bring awareness to our day to day lives including our rich inner emotional lives.  Mindfulness is also a way of being, bringing in the attitudes of mindfulness.  There are so many ways to bring mindfulness into our lives, which are not meditation practice.
 
You must sit in a certain way to practice
You do not have to sit in a lotus position to practice mindfulness.  You may choose to lie down, sit on a couch, sit in a bean bag, lie in the bath, walk, lie down on the loungeroom floor with your feet up on a chair (my favourite).  We have a huge number of images that tell us how to meditate to do it ‘right’.  We often see people sitting cross legged (and that’s fine if that feels comfortable for you!) on a mat on the floor with their eyes closed.  We need to find what is right for us, what feels comfortable and enjoyable and allows us to access mindfulness that suits you.  You have not failed if you do not sit on a mat and get up at 5.30am each morning and sit for an hour.
 
You need a quiet place to practice
Although it would be beautiful to practice mindfulness each day in a serene environment such as the beach or bush, hearing the waves and the birds in the background, we are usually not that fortunate to have that as a daily experience.  This can be powerful to experience as we can find it a bit easier to tune into our body sensations and all our senses in a calmer environment, however we also want to learn how to be mindful in all environments.  practising mindfulness in a busier environment is helpful as our day to day lives are usually not living in a secluded bubble away from other people and situations who can often trigger us.  We can practice mindfulness anywhere such as bringing full mindful awareness while we are in the car.  We are ot trying to knock ourselves out into another state of being, we are tuning into the now, including how we are feeling. 
 
Mindfulness is religious
Mindfulness practice is secular and can be practised by anyone regardless of their cultural or spiritual beliefs.  The cultivation of mindfulness can be found can be found in many contemplative traditions including Buddhism many other religions.  Often Mindfulness is associated with Mindfulness, however Mindfulness has taken key component from this 2550-year-old tradition, but it is not linked to any specific beliefs, codes or lifestyles. Mindfulness practices in many religions but in and of it itself it is not a religious practice; it is a form of mental training that is entirely secular and does not require commitment to any spiritual tradition.