By Rick Waite
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a term that is bandied about all over the media today. What is it? The best definition I have heard is from Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of the founding fathers of the modern mindfulness movement: Mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness.
Mindfulness is the continued awareness of yourself, your physical and mental state, your emotions, your environment, and the physical, mental and emotional state of the people around you. It is tuning into what is happening inside and outside of you from moment to moment. As described in the title of the 1971 book by Ram Das (born Richard Alpert) on spirituality, yoga and meditation it means, “Be Here Now.” In some circles this is called being conscious. Another definition of mindfulness is simply being in the moment.
Mindfulness Through Meditation
How do you achieve mindfulness? One way (not the only way) is by developing a formal meditation practice. And what is meditation? Mediation is a simple, easy-to-learn technique for relaxing your mind and body. It helps calm the chaos in your mind. I have taught hundreds of people to meditate and most people who meditate find that even a five or 10 minute meditation causes their mind and body to slow down. Immediately after meditating, many people feel calmer, more grounded and an overall sense of well-being.
Benefits of Meditation
Before meditating, most of us have nonstop thoughts bombarding our consciousness like a snow globe that has been vigorously shaken. After meditating, it is like the snow globe a few moments later — most of the snowflakes have settled and the few that are in motion are slowly floating along on their way to the bottom.
This sense of peace, calm and well-being is an immediate benefit of even a single meditation. But the really profound benefits of meditation come when you develop a daily meditation practice. And one of the long-term benefits of a daily meditation practice is the cultivation of a mindfulness mindset.
Daily Meditation: A Practice
In my experience, most people who meditate daily experience a new way of relating to themselves and the world. They are more thoughtful, more patient and more accepting of themselves and others. Instead of being agitated by unpleasant triggers and reacting in a knee-jerk manner, a regular meditation practice can help you pause and override that deep-seated urge to inflict punishment in tit-for-tat retaliation. A regular meditation practice programs into our brains that all-important pause between stimulus and response that enables us to respond rather than react. And it is not necessary to meditate for long periods of time: five or 10 minute meditations are worthwhile. The key is to develop a daily meditation practice. Armed with the insight and perspective that comes with deep moment-to-moment awareness of yourself, others and your environment, imagine the creative solutions you can obtain for your clients. And yourself.
Transformation Through Meditation
I am reminded of the story from a friend and fellow teacher of meditation about a young, tough, street-smart, good-looking kid who was beginning to meditate. After a few weeks, my friend asked the young man how his meditation practice was going.
“Pretty good,” he said. “Saturday night I was at a party with my girlfriend. A guy started hitting on her. I was about to smack him when I stopped and thought ‘You don’t have to do this. There’s another way to deal with this guy.’ And then I hit him anyway.”
Meditation For You
There are 10,000 ways to meditate. What is important is picking one that works for you.
- You can buy the book 10% Happier by Dan Harris, which has helped many people develop a meditation practice. Transcendental Meditation has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to meditate, including Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Clint Eastwood, Howard Stern, Eddie Vedder, Russell Simmons, Sheryl Crow and Deepak Chopra.
- Insight Timer is a free app that has 15,000 guided meditations.
- The Meditation Initiative is a local nonprofit that has taught thousands of people to meditate. Their programs are free.
- If you are new to the practice of meditation, try different kinds of meditations (guided meditations, breath- based, mantra-based, app-or book-based) until you find one that works for you.
- You can also join us on the second Wednesday of every month at the San Diego Bar Center downtown for Wellness Wednesday, where you can learn to meditate in just one session and join your colleagues in the fellowship of a group meditation. I hope to see you there.
Best of luck on your journey to achieve mindfulness through meditation.
Rick Waite (rwaite@keenlaw.com) is an AV lawyer with the law firm of Keeney Waite and Stevens. He has taught hundreds of lawyers and people from all walks of life how to meditate. He began meditating in 1971 and has had a daily meditation practice since 2010.