Be in the moment! What does it even mean? How many times have we heard or said that sentence, but never knew how to enter that state, how to be now and here? How many times did you drive in your car from work to home, not remembering any of the travelled miles? Opening the inbox to send an email and instead you read all of the new messages and end up forgetting the first thing, the one you turned on your laptop for? Often we are miles away and not even aware of it.

To be in being mode and on autopilot (in other words, to walk through life sleeping) is what differs unawareness in most of the things we do from fulfilled life in which we are focused and consciously living from moment to moment. Besides that, what marks our modern way of life filled with rush, time pressure and stress are our troubled minds. Do you remember the fights you have with your thoughts just before you go to sleep? And the battle to stop thinking at all costs, but the thoughts are only getting louder? You tried to shuffle and to set up in the best possible position, but you still wake up sprung and grumpy?

Mind wanders. It's in his nature. Always trying to be in the future, or the past, planning, worrying, remembering. From time to time, we are desperately trying to turn down the volume but it only gets louder. Why is that? Our mood rises and plummets naturally, our body is a guest house of various emotions during the day, but what makes a difference if a temporary feeling of sadness or anger will ruin our day or not, is my answer to this question.

Mind can only make things worse if we don't understand his nature. From time to time we feel stuck in a quagmire, the more we are trying to get out, the more we sink. Sometimes it's necessary to learn how to let go. And accept. Without judgement. We can learn how. The perplexed dance of thoughts, feelings, body sensations and behaviour can be unraveled - by learning about yourself. Meditation of focused attention offers a variety of useful tools to ease dealing with the stress and to make our daily confrontations with challenges more successful.

Mindfulness or meditation of focused attention was defined by John Kabat Zinn as “The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.” We direct our attention to things and observe them without expectations, wishes, anxiety of what can happen or comparing it with the ideal (Why do I feel this way? The sun is shining, it is a beautiful day, and I'm anxious. Why? I should be happy.")

In the end, if we approach the world with attention we have greater probability to be more aware of the current reality and the choices that stand before us. Therefore, we can react to situations in a more appropriate way. Also, watching thoughts without judgement, from a certain distance, helps us understand the wandering mind, the thoughts that elapse like clouds on the sky. The thoughts can be observed more easily as a mental occurrence and not as a fact. The probability to get on a negative thought train and to get caught in a rumination spiral is significantly reduced.

‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change’
Wayne Dyer

John Kabat-Zinn, is a professor emeritus on the University of Massachusetts Medical School, founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic. He founded a special department which works on application, education and research on the field of Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society where he adapted his teachings from Vipassana meditation and buddhist knowledge and has developed a Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program. The program was refactored in the eight week MBSR program (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) and MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy). Kabat-Zinn himself claims that he wanted to teach the people basics of buddhist traditions, but without buddhism. In other words, he has departed from the religion aspect and took over certain techniques from the Far East which he then combined with western scientifically based facts from the field of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).

Program consists of basic psychoeducation and of various exercises: exercise of body review, activities which attendants perform with the focused attention (for example eating raisins, washing teeth...), walking with the focused attention, breathing with the focused attention, three minute breathing space, standing yoga and focused attention of listening and thinking. Today, the approach is integrated in more than 200 hospitals around the world, schools (.b program - "stop, breath and be"), sports, business organisations, prisons, military organisations, army veteran centers...

Meditation of focused attention showed to be useful in adults and also in kids, although the research in the adults is more numerous. Analysing hormonal levels it has been proved that meditations lowers adrenaline and cortisol values and raises the dopamine and oxytocin levels. Eight weeks of program was enough for neuroimaging to show structural and functional brain changes in meditators. Mindfulness application showed efficiency in reduction of anxious and depressive symptoms, reduction of relapse length in adult and kids, better impulse control, raising concentration and attention. As a result it improved academic success, reduced insomnia and physical pain therefore raising general experience of happiness and quality of life. This approach nourishes empathy and builds accepting attitude towards your self and others as well as detachment from judging your self and others.

• Mindfulness is not a religion, it is a form of mental exercise that is is practiced by people of different religion, agnostics and atheists
• It is not necessary to meditate in the way as seen on TV or magazines, exercises can be done during in the bus, on your way to work, in the train, on the job...
• Meditation is not "successful" neither "unsuccessful", if it seems difficult, or it simply doesn't feel good, even then we can learn something about our mind and practice perserverance
• Meditation does not ask for big waivers, but persistence, perserverance and dedicated time of day for exercising is necessary
• The mindfulness goal is not relaxation, neither the state of trance, relaxation comes as a secondary, supporting reaction, the goal is to stay focused, aware and in the moment
• It does not collide with other forms of psychotherapy
• It won't make you look the world with pink glasses on neither it will solve all your problems, but it can be a helpful tool to confront the stress and work on your own strengths

"The real meditation practice is how we live our lives form moment to moment to moment"
Jon Kabat-Zinn

For more information about mindfulness, leave a comment or check for the next post.

Thank you for reading and stay in the moment.

DISCLAIMER: Photos source: Pinterest