Mindfulness and Its Role in Psychological Well-Being

By: Justin Tang, ID #0827635

Psychology 1000*01

Benjamin Giguere

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Introduction Despite the fact that the mind, body and spirit are interconnected, there is a tendency to forget about—or even neglect—our psychological well-being. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, for example, one in five of us will experience a mental illness in our lifetime (CMHA, 2014). Though this statistic is in part due to the stigma associated with mental health, there are various methods in which we can protect and promote our psychological wellbeing. More importantly, given that suffering is inevitable and arrives in innumerable guises (e.g. stress, depression, confusion), how can one become less disturbed by the unpleasant experiences in life? By introducing the concept, this paper will argue that mindfulness can be used to as a tool to achieve greater psychological well-being. Known as a deceptively simple but useful attention-regulating practice, mindfulness allows one to be less reactive to what is happening in the moment and accepting of all experiences—be it positive, negative, or neutral (Germer, 2004).
Defining Mindfulness What, exactly, is mindfulness? Although there has been a call in the literature to reconstruct aspects of current mindfulness models, including the establishment of a mutually agreed upon definition and application of the term (Germer 2004), mindfulness is best known for its Buddhist roots and translation of the Pali word sati, meaning awareness, attention and remembering (Brown and Ryan, 2003). Germer, for example, describes the term very simply as “moment-by-moment awareness” (Germer, 2004). Mikulas, on the other hand, takes a more comprehensive approach when explaining mindfulness: “…the biggest problem in Western academic and popular approaches to mindfulness is the confusing and confounding of awareness and concentration” (Mikulas, 2014). In an effort to explain the concept further, it is important that awareness and concentration be differentiated. Concentration is the learned control of the focus of one’s attention, while awareness is cultivated by simply noticing whatever arises in consciousness while minimizing getting lost in related thoughts, reactions and elaborations. And it is consciousness that encompasses both awareness and attention (Brown and Ryan, 2003). Ultimately, then, the concept of ‘mindfulness’ should be regarded as an attention-regulating process that helps individuals perceive internal and external realities openly and without distortion or ‘bad thoughts’.
Towards Psychological Well-Being: Application and Implications of Mindfulness Prior to demonstrating the use of mindfulness and its role in one’s psychological well-being, it is important to note that the phenomenon is not only a theoretical construct but also both a practice and a psychological process. It can be considered a practice because one can cultivate mindfulness through meditation and it is a psychological process in that one can be mindful or sensitive to psychological, somatic and environmental cues (Brown and Ryan, 2003). Mindfulness based stress reduction, for example, is a medicinal program rooted from meditational spiritual practices (Brown and Kasser, 2005). To demonstrate the concept as a practice, Counselling Services at both University of Guelph and Conestoga College offer mindfulness therapy groups and learning strategies around mindfulness and meditation for those experiencing more temporary struggle (University of Guelph & Conestoga College, 2014). Meanwhile, there are individuals who have decided to practice mindfulness on a daily basis and this includes The Power of Now author Eckhart Tolle, as well as spiritual leaders Rumi and the Dalai Lama (Tolle, 1999). Mindfulness can thus apply to nearly every domain of life, including personal or spiritual growth, therapy, music, art and sports – which are all essential to one’s well-being (Mikulas, 2014). In considering that mindfulness is largely about being ‘present’ and is characterized by clarity and vividness of current experiences, self-regulation can help to examine the place of awareness and attention in both the maintenance and enhancement of psychological or behavioural functioning (Grabovac et. al, 2011). Self-determination theory, for example, argues that when one has an open awareness, it is much more likely that they will facilitate the choice of behaviours that are consistent with their actual needs (Brown and Ryan, 2003). Personal journeys such as meditation, therefore, can help one can achieve mindfulness, which in turn, may facilitate well-being through self-regulated activity and fulfillment of psychological needs (Brown and Ryan, 2003). It becomes apparent, then, that mindfulness may be important in disengaging individuals from automatic thoughts, habits, and unhealthy behavior patterns. As Buddhist psychology posits, mindfulness facilitates insight into one’s emotional life, which enables one to free themselves from attachment as well as negative and destructive mental states (Coffey et. al, 2010). Therefore, it is evident that mindfulness tends to play key role in fostering informed and self-endorsed behavioral regulation, which has long been associated with the enhancement of one’s overall well-being (Brown and Ryan, 2003). Having explained self-regulation in the context of mindfulness, it seems easy to agree with Eckhart Tolle in that the problem of humanity is deeply rooted in the mind itself. As he explains, “…our drifting awareness, our tendency to take the path of least resistance by being less than fully awake to the present moment, creates a void” (Tolle, 1999). This phenomenon is not intentional but more so a cause of human nature. First, every tenet of life has been designed with standardization and routine in mind and these aspects generally hinder one’s ability to be ‘present’. Whether one is intending to learn a new sport, academic subject, or play a musical instrument, ‘mindsets’ are often called upon which actually hamper rather than help one to learn. For example, it is taught that one should learn the basics of a task so well that they become second nature. However, instead of mindlessly accepting this knowledge, it rarely occurs that one would ever question who determined what these basics actually are (Langer & Moldoveanu, 2000). The concept of change is one that is accompanied by a shift in worldview—the basic picture we carry with us of ‘the way things are’. When one is more mindful, one is more appreciative both in the sense that they can accept change and a new world view whereby ‘who we are’ and ‘what is the nature of the Universe in which we live’ are consciously thought about in daily life (Brown and Ryan, 2003). Because the brain is undoubtedly the most complex and powerful organ in our body, it too (like the body and its muscles) can benefit from both training and rest (Tan, 2012). Indeed, since mindfulness is all about paying attention in a particular way—on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally—exercises such as meditation should be promoted to improve one’s overall mental training (Tan, 2012). Instead of spending a life rushing to the next moment or re-hashing what could have done different yesterday, one can achieve greater peace and well-being through becoming more mindful of their thoughts and actions in the present. By choosing to consciously breathe, be grateful, authentic, and confident while connecting with others, the benefits of mindfulness and its contribution to well-being will become realized (Stoneberg, 2014).
Conclusion
Many philosophical, spiritual, and psychological traditions emphasize the importance of the quality of consciousness for the maintenance and enhancement of well-being (Brown and Ryan, 2003). In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the exploration and combination of Eastern and Western psychologies. Principle among the methods of interest is a practice known as mindfulness. This phenomenon encompasses the presence of five factors: observation of an experience, a non-judging or accepting orientation towards experience, acting with awareness instead of functioning automatic pilot, the ability to describe experience, and the non-reactivity to inner-experience (Coffey et. al, 2010). Through a change of worldview and routine exercising of the mind, mindfulness can be achieved resulting in the ability to liberate oneself from negative mental states, improve their response to all situations and enhance their overall well-being (Melli, 2014).
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