Mindfulness, a way to enjoy your coffee and extend your life...

A few days ago, I sat outside in the morning to have my coffee; I only have about 2 cups a day and this first one is one I really look forward to (I have been known to be looking forward to my morning coffee even before I go to bed). After a short while, I went to pick up my cup and saw that the coffee was all gone – I couldn't accuse the cats - they don't drink coffee, and my husband was drinking his tea – the fact was, I had drunk it without even noticing. I was severely disappointed – my favourite cup of coffee and it was gone without a moment's pleasure! This is what happens so often in our days; we drive somewhere and for the life of us can't remember any of the journey; we struggle to remember what happened yesterday; we realise we talked to a friend and can't really recall what was said. We find ourselves living either in the past, dwelling on events and conversations from days, months or even years ago, or we're planning for the future – what am I going to do? What are we having for dinner? What jobs need doing today? And it comes down very simply to not being in the present moment; to not actually taking part in our own life as it happens. The practice of being in the present moment is called mindfulness.

Mindfulness is very much a buzzword at the moment, with many books, articles and celebrities recommending the practice, but it's not new – it's a practice that goes back many thousands of years, and I suspect was very much a part of our hunter-gatherer ancestors' lives. Far from being esoteric and mystical, mindfulness can be a very powerful and practical tool in our everyday lives; it can help with stress and anxiety, improve our focus and concentration, help with weight-loss and health, and add a richness to every day.

It isn't difficult to learn and there are numerous tools and apps which can help – I will list some at the end of the blog – but it does require a certain discipline to really reap the benefits. Having said that, even a sporadic practice can still be beneficial and help us to break out of our daily worries and concerns.

“You should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.” – Zen Proverb

Mindfulness meditation – from East to West

The practices of mindfulness and meditation go back several thousands of years and are mainly based in the religious practices of Buddhism and Hinduism. We are probably all familiar with the images of devout monks and practitioners sitting cross-legged and chanting 'Om' but the devotional aspect of mindfulness is only one element and for everyone, spiritual or not, mindfulness is a way of connecting with the world and our own lives so that we can live fully and be more aware.

Mindfulness and meditation as secular practices became more popular in the West at the end of the last century with the rise in popularity of practices such as yoga, tai-chi, meditation and martial arts in the 1960s and 70s. It was often promoted and endorsed by celebrities such as The Beatles and popular gurus such as the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. These practices are no longer seen as 'hippie' or weird and there are now numerous mainstream courses, books, apps, audio guides and videos to help you begin practising.

As a psychological therapy, mindfulness has been recently developed and promoted by people such as Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jack Kornfield, Professor Mark Williams and even Ruby Wax, who have all shown that a course of mindfulness can be more effective than medication in the treatment of anxiety, depression and stress.

The benefits

As more and more research is being carried out, the practice of mindfulness and meditation are being found to have some remarkable benefits. Among these are:

• Higher brain functioning;

• Increased immune function;

• Lowered blood pressure;

• Lowered heart rate;

• Increased awareness;

• Increased attention and focus;

• Increased clarity in thinking and perception;

• Lowered anxiety levels;

• Experience of being calm and internally still;

• Experience of feeling connected.

from Positive Psychology

In an experiment carried out by Dr Michael Mosley and Professor Elaine Fox, mindfulness was even shown to have positive physical effects with a reduction in negative activity in the brain.

What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation?

You may hear the terms mindfulness and meditation - and even mindfulness meditation - being used interchangeably and in truth they are the same thing but I think it's useful to think of them as two tools that support each other:

Mindfulness meditation

This is what people usually think of when they hear about mindfulness and it is the starting point for all mindfulness practices. The aim is to sit or lie in a place where you are comfortable and not disturbed and focus calmly on a single point; in meditation, this can be a mantra, a word such as 'peace' or 'calm', or just to follow the breath all the way in and all the way out. From personal experience, I find following the breath the most helpful – but some people like to have a word or phrase to focus on, it doesn't matter, just what works for you. The key is just to focus on the word or breath – the point is not to 'empty the mind' – apart from being well-nigh impossible, trying to do that will probably drive you crazy in about 2 minutes and you'll never want to do it again. The point is just to simply and calmly follow the breath or word and when your mind wanders off, (which it will do over and over and over and over again), you just calmly come back to the focus point. Professor Williams describes it as training a much loved puppy – each time it wanders off you just gently bring it back – no shouting or getting angry or frustrated, just coming back to where you want it to be. While this sounds a bit pointless, in fact what it does is allow you to put a bit of distance between you and your thoughts. Sometimes I acknowledge where my mind has been – 'oh, I was planning, daydreaming, remembering, imagining...' – and it helps me to recognise how often my mind is not in the present moment i.e. with my breath. Having even this little bit of distance can really help to also put a bit of space between us and our worries and anxieties - worries are usually about the past, anxieties are usually about the future.

At first, the practice may be just a few minutes, but as you continue to practise, you may want to sit a bit longer and eventually, you will find moments of calm and stillness - literally moments, but these still leave you feeling calmer and more at peace.

Mindfulness

I think of mindfulness practices as mindfulness as I go about my daily life. So rather than sitting focusing on the breath, it's focusing on what is actually happening here and now. If you're walking, focusing completely on walking – the feel of the feet on the ground, the movement of the body as it moves along, the air on the face, the breath – rather than just thinking about where you want to get to which is in the future. This I think more than anything, is when I realise how my mind is always somewhere else – if I'm going upstairs, my mind is already thinking about what I'm going to do when I get there; if I'm going shopping, my mind is thinking about what I'm going to buy, or even what I'm going to do when I get home; by being mindful and just focusing on walking, the busyness of your mind is quietened a little and suddenly there is more space and calm.

And this can be applied to just about anything you are doing – washing up, having a shower, getting dressed, preparing food, paddling in the sea – yey!, and of course, drinking coffee – had I been mindful when I had my coffee the other morning, I might actually have enjoyed it. So take drinking coffee as an example: focus on the coffee – look at it, smell it, feel the warmth and weight of the cup in your hand, feel the coffee as it enters your mouth – the warmth and taste - and feel it as it you swallow; and let that completely finish before you take the next sip. Believe me, your cup of coffee (or tea) will be so much more enjoyable and you won't miss it as I did.

And at any time, whatever you're doing, you can come back to the breath and come into the present moment – I think that's why I like to use the breath because it's always there – just going on by itself.

“Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.” ― Alan Watts

So how does that link to living primally?

My first thought is that our hunter-gatherer ancestors had a lot less to be distracted by – they didn't have phones, iPads, computers or television; they didn't have to think about getting to work or school; they weren't constantly being fed with news and media and I'm quite sure they wouldn't have given a stuff about what Kim Kardashian was up to. Their lives, though often harsh and maybe brutal at times, were much simpler without the information overload we have now.

I'm not suggesting that we should get rid of all our modern devices (although a quiet camping trip or even just an evening under the stars without our media devices can be incredibly freeing) but it's easy to get caught up with 'stuff' and forget where we really are and what really matters. Studies of modern hunter-gatherers show that although some of their time is taken up with gathering food and looking after their camps, a lot of their time is spent socialising with family and group members:

HOW GROK PROBABLY SPENT HIS DAY

Habitat-, shelter-, basic-human-needs–related chores.........................3 hours

Hunting or gathering food.....................................................................5 hours

Leisure time consisting of play and family or group socializing............6 hours

Sleeping, napping, resting, relaxing....................................................10 hours

Estimates derived from studies of the modern hunter-gatherer culture of the !Kung Bushmen in Africa

From The Primal Blueprint

In our incredibly fast-paced and busy lives often we don't give ourselves time to just enjoy being alive – we're always planning, looking to the next task, worrying about money, work or family, reading the latest news item or blog and just feeling rushed and harried – mindfulness can give us some respite just to breathe and enjoy being alive.

Mindful eating

I can't speak from experience, but I would hazard a guess that if we had to go out and hunt and gather our food, we would appreciate it a lot more than we do when all we have to do is drag it off the supermarket shelf and take it home, and if you're not sure when your next meal is coming along, you make the most of each meal you get. Just like my cup of coffee, it's very easy to eat a meal, even one you have really looked forward to, and actually not even be aware that you have eaten it. Watch yourself next time you're eating and see how often your next fork or spoonful is ready before you have finished the last one – this is a really hard one for me, coming from a family of speed-eaters! It's as though we're already thinking about the next mouthful instead of focusing on the one we have. Mindful eating is a very powerful tool, not just for enjoying and appreciating food but also for weight-loss; when we eat mindlessly, we often eat more than we need because we fail to recognise the signals from our body that tell us that we're full.

When we eat mindfully, we are aware of every bite – the smell, texture and taste of every mouthful, we enjoy and appreciate it and consequently we actually get more enjoyment from it. Eating slowly also gives your brain time to register the signals from your stomach that you have eaten enough so you find that you eat less. The most useful thing that I was told is that once you find that you're not looking forward to the next forkful as much, that is the time to stop eating but you can only spot that if you eat mindfully.

Many mindfulness courses actually start with a mindful eating practice: you take a raisin or a piece of chocolate and eat it really slowly and mindfully and see how different the experience is. You may even find that you like things you thought you didn't or vice versa.

So what about living longer?

Apart from physical and mental the benefits listed above, mindfulness can actually help us to enjoy our life instead of just letting it pass us by in a rush of worry and anxiety. In his book, Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World, Professor Mark Williams puts it quite bluntly:

“If you are thirty years old , then with a life expectancy of around eighty, you have fifty years left. But if you are only truly conscious and aware of every moment for perhaps two out of sixteen hours a day (which is not unreasonable), your life expectancy is only another six years and three months.” So by practising mindfulness and simply being aware and present for more of the time, we can 'live' our lives instead of letting them pass by while we're caught up in past worries and future plans.

Although I have practised mindfulness and meditation for a long time (on and off!), I'm not the best person to really guide you into a practice so I have listed below some of the resources that I have found most useful. Do give it try though, you may well find some peace in this frantic world.

Resources:

Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World - Professor Mark Williams – I can't recommend this enough – a really comprehensive, down-to-earth guide with background information, anecdotes, scientific evidence and a full eight week guide to establishing a mindfulness practice. Includes an audio guide on each mindfulness practice.

A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled – Ruby Wax

Mindbell – an App by the Plum Village community with meditation timers and mindfulness bell (not on Apple)

Mindfulness Bell – a bell which you can set to ring at times through the day to remind you to come back to the present moment – it's surprising how this can shake you out of over-thinking

There are also plenty of apps with guided meditations available online