What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness, According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, is “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Mindfulness is a concept that is derived from Buddhist philosophies and entered Western psychology in the 1960s. Many therapies have been developed using mindfulness as a central tenet due to seeing it’s effectiveness in improving one’s quality of life. Mindfulness may not immediately change our thoughts and emotions or underlying beliefs, but it starts to change our relationship with them so that they are not debilitating or self defeating. Over the years, research on Mindfulness has progressed and it has achieved the place of vital importance in therapeutic interventions.
Why is Mindfulness important?
How would you feel if you were told that u have only half of your life to live and the other half has been deducted from your actual life span? Would it change how you behave with others? Would it push you to do the things you love to do? As unusual as this sounds, it is actually what is happening. We miss almost half of our life, as it unfolds because we are just not living it, we are just kept present in the moment.
According to a study, 47% of the time, the average adult is not paying attention to what they are doing (killingsworth and Gilbert, 2010). This implies that we are not present almost half the time, and living life on autopilot. Mindfulness is a technique that we can practice by living in the moment, being aware of our mind, body and environment without judgment, with an acceptance for all of it. But it can also become a state of mind if we practice it consistently. With this state of mind, we can process our thoughts and emotions in an adaptive way where they become tools for us to deal with the environment, instead of hindrances that create negative behaviors and emotions.
Mindfulness training in Addiction
In many ways, Addiction is the opposite of being present or mindful. Addiction is a way to escape the present moment, either escaping or avoiding boredom, anxiety or other negative states of mind. Even for people who claim that they just drink to ‘relax’ or ‘enjoy,’ their compulsive need to satisfy an urge using a substance is an escape of sorts from the normal way of living. Mindfulness helps a person accept the present moment with an attitude of acceptance, curiosity and open mindedness. To train an individual in mindfulness, a therapist usually guides the individual in different tasks to observe their external environment, their thoughts and emotions keeping acceptance as a central tenet. To be present when we have our first cup of coffee, have a shower, eat a meal, go for a walk or while doing work, is a liberation from the normal state of being identified with this or that thought or emotion. Mindfulness helps manage cravings, reduce stress, improve coping abilities, build interpersonal skills and sustain ling term recovery for an individual. In many ways, it helps a person become connected to their reality and through acceptance of their reality, change becomes not a burden but a spontaneous and lively process.
Mindfulness training in Rehabilition
Rehabilitation aims to improve a person’s existing capacity for improving their life and build new skills which can help them adapt to their life’s challenges. It integrates a person into society and helps gain meaning and purpose in their life, beyond addiction. At ZorbaWellness, Mindfulness training is an important aspect to the treatment program. It is achieved through daily meditation practice, mindfulness group activities and individual tasks and application of mindfulness in one’s relationships with loved ones. Mental health professionals who are trained in the field of addiction and are mindfulness practicioners guide the individual in mindfulness. Mindfulness training has helped many clients in sustaining sober living and has become a one of the pillars for recovery for many individuals.